American actor g>ettes 



EDITED BY LAURENCE HUTTON 



"A name 
Noble and brave as aught of consular 
On Roman marbles.''' 1 — Byron. 



AMERICAN ACTOR SERIES 



THE JEFFERSONS 



BY 



WILLIAM WINTER 



TOty Illustration* 



# 






// 

tllLl% 

BOSTON 

JAMES R. OSGOOD AND COMPANY 

1881 






Copyright, i88r } 
By James R. Osgood and Company. 



All rights reserved. 



University Press: 
John Wilson and Son, Cambridge. 



* 



CJjis fftemortal of tfje 3effersons 

IS DEDICATED BY ITS AUTHOR 
TO THEIR FAMOUS KINSMAN 

WILLIAM WARREN, 

ACTOR, SCHOLAR, AND COMRADE, 

WHOSE 

QUAINT AND TENDER GENIUS 

IN DRAMATIC ART 

HAS GIVEN HAPPINESS TO THOUSANDS, 

AND 

WHOSE EXALTED VIRTUES AND GENTLE LIFE 

HAVE MADE HIM 

AN EXAMPLE AND AN HONOR 

TO THE STAGE AND THE COMMUNITY. 



* 



PREFACE. 



The Gar rick period in the history of the British stage ; which 
is the period of Jefferson the First, has been so fully described by 
many writers that the present biographer has felt justified in as- 
suming that it is well known, and therefore has touched but lightly 
upon it, in recounting what is ascertained of this actor. A certain 
amount of quotation from old chro7iicles, however, has been deemed 
essential, for the sa&e of a basis of authority, and also for the sake 
of local color. In describing the career of Jefferson the Second 
there was an opportunity to dwell with minute attention on the 
storied days of the old Chestnut Street Theatre, in Philadelphia, — 
an institution which has never been equalled, for dignity ', for intel- 
lectual resources, or for splendor of associations, in the history of 
the stage in America ; but it has not been possible, within the limits 
prescribed for this biography, to give more than a passing glance 
across that fertile and teei7iing field. Jefferson the Third, his 
sister Elizabeth, his wife {Mrs. C. F. Burke-Jefferson), and his 
step-son [Charles S. T. Burke) are co7iimemorated here, and men- 
tion is made of all known scions of the family ; the writer's de- 
sign being to suggest this race of actors in its relation to the times 
through which it has moved, and to make an authentic ground- 
work for the researches and illustrative embellishments of future 
theatrical inquirers. A considerable space will be found allotted 



Vlll THE JEFFERSONS. 

to the personation of Rip Van Winkle by Jefferson the Fourth ; 
but this allotment seems warranted by the great importance and 
phenomenal career of a work which for nearly twenty years has 
engrossed more of the public attention than any other single dra- 
matic performance of this generation. Not Edwin Booth'' s Ham- 
let, nor Ristori's Queen Elizabeth, nor Charles Kean's Louis XL, 
nor Seebach's Marguerite, nor Adelaide Neilson's Juliet, nor Sal- 
vinCs Othello has so towered in popularity, or so dominated con- 
temporary thought upon the influence of the stage. 

Every writer who touches upon the history of the drama in 
America twist acknowledge his obligation for guidance and aid, to 
the thorough, faithful, and suggestive Records made by the veteran 
historian, Joseph N. Lrcland. Ln the composition of this biography 
reference has frequently been made to that work. Many other au- 
thorities, likewise, have been consulted. Among them are Bernard's 
Retrospections of the Stage, Tate Wilkinson's- Memoirs, Ry ley's 
Ltincrant, The Biographia Dramatica, The Thespian Dictionary, 
John Taylor's Records, Cumberland 's British Theatre, Davics's 
Life of Garrick, Gilliland's Dramatic Mirror, FL. B. Baker s 
English Actors, Winston's Theatric Tourist, CoweWs Thirty 
Years, George Anne Bellamy's Apology, John Gait's Lives of the 
Players, Wood's Personal Recollections, Dunlap's LListory of the 
American Theatre, Wcmyss's Theatrical Biography, Clapp's 
Record of the Boston Stage, Sol Smith's Theatrical Management, 
Bernard's Early Days of the American Stage, Phelps's Players 
of a Century, Ludlow's Dramatic Life, The Mirror of Taste, 
IFutton's Plays and Players, Recs's Dramatic Authors of Amer- 
ica, Brown* S LListory of the American Stage, Anson's Almanac, 
>nid tin- Almanac of the London Era. Various private sources 
of information, also, have been explored, — the writer having 
profited by the personal recollections of several members of the 



PREFACE. ix 

Jefferson family ; and by the useful suggestions of friendly cor- 
respondents, — among whom should particularly be mentioned 
Mr. John T. Ford, of Baltimore, Mr. L. Clarke Davis, of Phila- 
delphia, and Viat ripe theatrical scholar, Mr. Thomas J. McKee, 
of New York. This memoir has, of necessity, been written rap- 
idly, and within a brief time ; yet careful effort has been made 
to verify its statements and to insure accuracy and fitness in its 
illustrations. The head of Jefferson the First has been taken 
from an old English engraving ; the view of the Plymouth 
Theatre froj?i Winston's Theatric Tourist ; the print of Jeffer- 
son the Second and Blissett from the Mirror of Taste ; the two 
silhouettes and the portraits of Mrs. Jefferson and Charles Bicrke 
from originals in the art collection of Jefferson the Fourth. The 
portrait of Mrs. Jefferson was painted by Neagle, and it shows 
her as Jessica. Neagle also painted a portrait of Jefferson the 
Second as Solus. The Rip Van Winkle heads are frojn engrav- 
ings published in Lippincott's Magazine, for July, 1869, and the 
Bob Acres, — obtained from Scribner's Magazine, — is based on 
an excellent photograph by Sarony of New York. Mr. Hutton 
has enriched the volume with a copious index, an adjunct indis- 
pensable to works of this kind. 

The reader will not find here either a sermon on mortality, or 
a philosophical disquisition on the dramatic principle, or a defence 
of the stage. It is assumed that the achievemetits of ' a7i exception- 
ally talented family are worthy of commemoration, and that the 
greatness and beauty of the dramatic art and the dignity and 
utility of the stage are known and understood, at least by the class 
of readers to which this book will come. A simple biographical 
narrative is all that has here been attempted. TJie Jefferson 
Family has been on the stage, continuously, for five generations. 
This memoir endeavors to trace the history of this race of actors 



X THE JEFFERSONS. 

along its direct, hereditary line, without deviation, through a 
period of about one hundred and fifty years. The representa- 
tives of the family, in lineal descent, are as follows : — 

I. Thomas Jefferson 1728? -1807 

II. Joseph Jefferson 1774 - 1832 

III. Joseph Jefferson 1804 - 1842 

IV. Joseph Jefferson 1829 

V. Thomas Jefferson 1857 

Jefferson the First had his career in England. Jefferson the 
Second was famous in the days of the old Chestnut Street Theatre, 
Philadelphia. Jefferson the Third did not attain to exceptional 
eminence. Jefferson the Fourth is Rip Van Winkle ; and Jeffer- 
son t/ie Fifth is his son. This enumeration varies from the one 
hitherto in use, as it begins with Priam himself, and not with 
ALneas ; with the actual founder of the family, and not with its 
colonizer in a foreign land. Other members of the Jefferson race 
have been on the stage, and their names and deeds are recorded in 
the course of this chronicle. 

W. W. 
Fort Hill, New Brighton, 

Staten Island, June 27th, 1881. 



CONTENTS. 

Page 

Jefferson the First i 

Jefferson the Second 49 

Elizabeth Jefferson 127 

Jefferson the Third 137 

Charles Burke . 151 

Jefferson the Fourth 164 

Conclusion 219 

Index 227 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



-•©•- 



"' Jefferson the First ...... Frontispiece 

Old Plymouth Theatre 26 

Jefferson the Second and Blissett . . . 52 ^ 

Jefferson the Third and Wife 94 / 

Mrs. Burke -Jefferson 122 >■ 

C. Burke and Jefferson Fourth as Boys . .146 '/ 

Charles Burke 156 

Jefferson the Fourth as Rip Van Winkle vi and 182 
Jefferson the Fourth as Acres . . . . 212 



JEFFERSON THE FIRST. 
1728 ?-i8o7. 



"First, noble friend, 
Let me embrace thine age ; whose honor cannot 
Be measured or confinedP 

Shakespeare. 



JEFFERSON THE FIRST. 



The founder of the Jefferson Family of Actors was 
Thomas Jefferson, the son of an English farmer, and 
he was born at, or near Ripon, Yorkshire, England, 
about the year 1728, — in the beginning of the reign 
of George II. Nothing is known of his parents, or of 
the circumstances of his childhood, and the stories of 
him that have survived to the present day are meagre 
and somewhat contradictory. One person, however, 
who had seen him, lived to our time, and gave an ac- 
count of the beginning of his stage career. This was 
the venerable Mr. Drinkwater Meadows, the much re- 
spected veteran actor, now deceased,* who saw Jeffer- 
son the First, at Ripon, in 1806, a feeble old man, sitting 
by the fireside, ill with gout and tended by one of his 
daughters. Mr. Meadows had journeyed to Ripon to 

* Mr. Drinkwater Meadows was long a useful and esteemed L ~~ 
actor on the London stage. He was a comedian, and he made his first 
appearance in London, at Covent Garden, in September, 1821, acting 4 
Scrub, in " The Beaux' Stratagem." He was the original Fathom, in 
" The Hunchback " (1832). His last appearance on the London stage 
was made at the Princess's Theatre, in 1862, and he then quietly retired 
from the profession. He occupied, for a considerable time, the office of 
Secretary of the Covent Garden Theatrical Fund, discharging its im- 
portant duties with perfect probity and gentle courtesy. He died, at his 
residence, Prairie Cottage, Barnes, on Saturday, June 5th, 1869, at about 
the age of eighty. — W. W. 



4 THE JEFFERSONS. 

visit one of the aged actor's sons, Lieut. Frank Jeffer- 
son, at one time commander of the royal yacht in Vir- 
ginia Water, at Windsor ; and from him he learned 
certain particulars of old Thomas Jefferson's life, which 
he lived to relate to Thomas Jefferson's great-grandson, 
whom he saw upon the stage as Rip Van Winkle, and 
personally met, in London, in 1865. With this remi- 
niscence the chronicle of the family begins. 

According to the narrative of Mr. Meadows, Jeffer- 
son the First, when a youth, was a wild fellow, dashing 
and gay, and capable of any intrepidity. His person 
was handsome, his bearing free and graceful, his intel- 
ligence superior, his temperament merry ; he was a 
frolicsome companion, a capital equestrian, and a gen- 
eral favorite. There presently came a time, to this 
young man, when his skill in horsemanship, his good 
spirits, and his excellent faculty for singing a comic 
song were the means, if not of making his fortune, at 
least of prescribing his career. The Jacobite rebellion 
of 1745, — the formidable uprising in the north for 
Charles Edward Stuart, " the Pretender," — appears to 
have been the motive to this prosperity ; so that, if a 
biographer may allow himself to take a playful view of 
a serious subject, it is to the determined ambition of 
the Stuarts to remount the British throne that the present 
epoch is indebted for Rip Van Winkle on the stage. 
An important dispatch concerning this insurrection 
(perhaps the news of Charles Edward's crushing defeat 
at Culloden) had come to Ripon, and was now to be 

conveyed to London ; and none other than young 
Thomas Jefferson — who could ride so well, and whose 



JEFFERSON THE FIRST. 5 

thriving father could mount him on a thoroughbred 
steed, for this loyal and patriotic journey — was cho- 
sen by fate to be its bearer. He undertook this task, 
and he accomplished it — through what perils it were 
idle to conjecture ; but an equestrian trip of two hundred 
and twenty miles, through wild parts of the kingdom, 
what with bad roads, highwaymen, hostile papists, and 
the chances of rough weather, was a serious business.* 
It may be imagined that Thomas Jefferson was a man 
well satisfied with himself and with fortune, when at 
length his mission had been fulfilled, and he was taking 
his rest at the ancient White Hart Inn, in the Borough 
of Southwark. 

He had arrived there just in time to grasp the ex- 
tended hand of a singular good-fortune. On that very 
night David Garrick, the wonder and delight of Lon- 
don, was feasting with a party of friends in that tavern ; 
and presently to the merry circle of Roscius in the 
parlor a laughing servant brought word of the jovial 
young fellow from the country, who was singing comic 
songs and telling stories to the less select revellers in 
the tap-room. An immediate proposition to ask in 
this pleasant rustic, for a frolic over his pre-supposed 
awkwardness and bumpkin humor, met with the favor of 
Garrick's companions, and so it chanced that Thomas 
Jefferson was invited to sit at the table of David Gar- 
rick. Imagination dwells pleasurably on the ensuing 
scene of festal triumph for the sparkling country lad. 

* " In 1 707 it took, in summer one day, in winter nearly two days, to 
travel from London to Oxford, forty-six miles." — Haydn's Dictionary. 
The ride from Ripon to London could not have been made in less than 
five or six summer days. — W. W. 



6 THE JEFFERSONS. 

He could, it seemed, be entirely at his ease. He sang 
his songs ; he told his stories ; he hit off his little series 
of eccentric Yorkshire characters, and he was the bright 
spirit of the hour. He charmed his new and fastidious 
acquaintances of the parlor as much as he had charmed 
his careless, accidental comrades of the tap ; and the 
fancy that Garrick took for him, on that night, was 
destined not only to ripen into a lasting friendship, but to 
mark out and settle his pathway in life. He was not 
" to keep a farm and carters." He returned no more 
for a long time to Ripon ; but with Garrick's advice 
and aid, he adopted the stage and was at once em- 
barked in professional occupation. 

There is a romantic air about this narrative which, 
possibly, implies a fiction ; but such is the story, as 
transmitted by Mr. Meadows, and so it remains. An- 
other and prosier account says that Jefferson was edu- 
cated for the bar, and actually began the practice of 
law ; but very soon, and by a sort of accident, dis- 
carded this profession, for the sake of the stage. Ac- 
cording to this tale he chanced one day to stroll into a 
barn in the neighborhood of Ripon, where some wan- 
dering players had undertaken to enact Farquhar's com- 
edy of "The Beaux' Stratagem," and there and then 
volunteered his services, in place of an actor suddenly 
disabled by illness, to perform Archer. His offer was 
accepted. He had previously acted the part at a pri- 
vate theatrical club, and his success in it on this occa- 
sion was so brilliant that he at once determined to 
renounce the law and adopt the theatre. This legend 
furthermore states that Garrick, when accosted by the 



JEFFERSON THE FIRST. 7 

new comer, promptly bestowed upon him an engage- 
ment at Drury Lane, together with his personal friend- 
ship, and that Jefferson subsequently for a term of 
years shared the honors of that stage with its chieftain. 
The student of theatrical history, however, without refer- 
ence to the comparative barrenness of existing records 
of Jefferson's career, remembering what is authentically 
recorded of Garrick's temperament and habits, will pre- 
fer to accept the more rational and pleasing story re- 
lated on the authority of the veteran of Covent Garden. 
Jefferson, it is certain, never at any time in his pro- 
fessional career divided honors with his great leader. 
He is known to have acted Horatio, and also Ki?ig 
Claudius, to Garrick's Hamlet ; the Duke of Bucking- 
ham, to Garrick's Richard the Third ; Paris, to Gar- 
rick's Romeo ; Col. Britton, to Garrick's Don Felix ; 
and the Duke of Gloster, to Garrick's John Shore, 
and this showing indicates the high-water mark of his 
prominence in Garrick's company. All the same he 
was " a well-graced actor ; " he gained and held a good 
rank, when rank was hard to gain ; and he possessed 
Garrick's regard much more fully than probably he 
would have done, had he ever been, or seemed to be, 
a rival to that illustrious but not magnanimous genius. 
Of the length of time during which they were profes- 
sionally associated, there is no positive record. Jeffer- 
son seems to have been early captivated by the idea of 
theatrical management in the provincial towns, and he 
may have left Garrick's company either as a strolling 
player or with this other avocation in view. There is an 
anecdote, treasured by his descendants, that when he 



8 THE JEFFERSONS. 

sought that great actor and warm personal friend to 
say good-bye, as he was setting forth to the rural scene 
of new labors, Garrick, who had just ended a perform- 
ance of his renowned character of Abel Drugger, in Ben 
Jonson's comedy of " The Alchemist," took off his wig, 
after exchanging words of farewell, and threw it to him 
from the dressing-room, saying, " Take that, my friend, 
and may it bring you as much good as it has brought 
me." This relic survived for a long time ; was brought 
to America by Jefferson the Second, passed into the 
possession of Jefferson the Third, and ultimately was 
destroyed, together with many other articles of stage 
wardrobe, which had been entrusted by the latter to 
the care of Joseph Cowell,* the comedian, in a fire 

* Joseph Cowell. — This actor and writer, from whose reminis- 
cences several extracts are made in this biography, was born at Kent, 
England, August 7th, 1 792, and passed his early days at Torquay, where 
he saw Lord Nelson, of whom he can find nothing better to say than that 
he was " a mean-looking little man, but very kind and agreeable to chil- 
dren." Cowell made his first appearance on the stage, at Plymouth, in 
1812, as Bclcour, in Cumberland's comedy of " The West Indian." He 
afterwards was on the York circuit, — Tate Wilkinson's old ground, — 
and eventually he became a member of the company at Drury Lane. 
In 1821 he came to America, under engagement to Stephen Price, for 
the New York Park Theatre, and he remained in this country till 1844, 
when he returned to England. He was here again in 1850, and appeared 
at the Astor Place Opera House; and on April 23d, 1856, at the old 
Broadway Theatre, he took a farewell benefit and left the stage. His 
autobiography, entitled " Thirty Years among the Players," was published 
by the Harpers, in 1844. He finally went back to England with his 
grand-daughter, Kate Hateman, and died in London, November 14th, 
1863, in his seventy-second year. He was famous as Crack, in " The 
Turnpike Gate," — a musical piece, by T. Knight, first acted at Covent 
Garden, in 1799, — and his portrait, in that character, painted by 
Neagle, is one of the illustrations of Wemyss's " Acting American 
Theatre." — W. W. 



JEFFERSON THE FIRST. 9 

that consumed the St. Charles Theatre, New Orleans, 
in 1842. 

There is still another version of Thomas Jefferson's 
choice of a theatrical career, and the details of this are 
sanctioned by several authorities. This account states 
that when a youth he was, for a short time, employed in 
an attorney's office, somewhere in Yorkshire, presuma- 
bly in Ripon, and that he went to London as an adven- 
turous fugitive. The attorney whom he served had 
ordered him to prepare for a journey up to the capital, 
and this to the gay lad was, of course, a joyful prospect ; 
but, to his great disappointment and mortification, on 
the night before the appointed day for his departure, he 
was apprised that the plan had been changed, and that 
the attorney would make the trip himself. Young Jef- 
ferson, unsubmissive, and not to be thus defeated of his 
cherished will, thereupon determined to take " French 
leave " of his friends, and go to London on his own 
account. A fortunate chance seemed to favor this ex- 
pedition. A fine charger had been bought, in the neigh- 
borhood of Ripon, for a military magnate named General 
Fawkes, and Jefferson, aware of his opportunity, offered 
to ride him to London, and obtained permission to do 
so. Thus provided, it is said, he rode away from home, 
and bent his course toward the great city, where he ar- 
rived in January, 1 746 or '47. On April 7th in the latter /• 
year he was a lodger at the Tilt-yard Coffee House, and 
had the extraordinary experience of being blown up with 
gunpowder, a quantity of which had been served out 
to the soldiers who were to guard the unfortunate old 
Lord Lovat on his way to execution. This was Simon 



IO' THE JEFFERSONS. 

Fraser, born in 1667, one of the three Scottish lords, 
adherents of Charles Edward the Pietender, who were 
beheaded on Tower Hill in 1 747. The others were Kil- 
marnock and Balmerino ; and the visitor to the Tower 
of London still sees the axe and block that were used in 
this execution. Many lives were lost in the Tilt-yard 
accident ; but that of Jefferson was saved, through the 
chance intervention of a falling beam, which prevented 
him from being crushed. A short time after this occur- 
rence he was present in Drury Lane Theatre, at a per- 
formance of Sir Robert Howard's comedy of "The 
Committee " (1665), in which the fascinating Peg Wof- 
fington acted Ruth ; and this siren so captivated his 
fancy that he resolved to drop all thoughts of any other 
pursuit than the stage. 

It is impossible- to speak with absolute precision as to 
the various and devious steps of Jefferson's professional 
career. He was a theatrical manager at Richmond, 
Exeter, Lewes, and Plymouth ; he frequently went on 
strolling expeditions, and he acted at Drury Lane, inter- 
mittently, from about 1750 to 1776. Soon after his 
first meeting with Garrick, he appeared at the Hay- 
market, in London, as Horatio, in " The Fair Penitent." 
The exact date of that meeting is unknown. Garrick 
made his great preliminary hit * in London, at Good- 



* David Garrick, i 716— i 779. — In John Bernard's " Retrospec- 
tions of the Stage," Vol. II., chapter 6, mention is made of one of the 
audience that witnessed the first appearance of Garrick in London. This 
was Philip Lewis, father of the famous English comedian, William T. 
L<uis. "He was the only man of my acquaintance," says Bernard, 
"who remembered the dlbut of Garrick ; and it was when sitting at my 



JEFFERSON THE FIRST. II 

man's Fields Theatre, when he was twenty-five years old, 
on Oct. 19th, 1 741, and he afterwards went over to 
Dublin ; and then he was engaged by Fleetwood, for 
Drury Lane, where he remained till 1 745. That year — 
the year of the Jacobite insurrection — he was again in 
Ireland, acting with Thomas Sheridan, the father of the 
brilliant and famous Richard Brinsley, in the theatre in 
Smock Alley. But in 1 746 he was acting, under the 
management of Rich, at Covent Garden, and it was not 
till the whiter of 1747 that he became the manager of 
Drury Lane. Jefferson's meeting with him, probably, 
occurred early in 1 746. The Stuart Rebellion, which 
it is assumed had sent this young fellow up to London, 
was still going on, and did not perish till April 16th 
that year, when it met its death-blow at Culloden. It 
is likely that, through Garrick's influence, Jefferson was 
early attached to the London stage ; or, he may nt first 
have gone on a country circuit, and afterwards joined 
the Drury Lane company when Garrick had become 
its manager, quitting that theatre at a later time to 
manage on his own account in the provinces. He 
must soon have learned, as others did, that it was well- 
nigh impossible, in that epoch at the British capital, 
for any actor to win a desirable success in face of the 

table, with Charles Bannister and Merry, he uttered an impromptu I 
have since heard attributed to others : — 

1 1 saw him rising in the east, 
In all his energetic glows ; 
I saw him sinking in the west 

In greater splendor than he rose.' " 

This is queer, both as poetry and grammar ; but it is a curiosity. — 
W. W. 



12 THE JEFFERSONS. 

overwhelming ascendancy which Garrick then main- 
tained. 

A period of about twelve years of itinerant acting and 
perhaps of desultory theatrical management is accord- 
ingly to be imagined. In 1758 he went to Ireland, and 
in 1760 he was a member of the Crow St. Theatre, 
acting with a company which included Barry, Mossop, 
Woodward, Macklin, Foote, Sowden, Walker, Vernon, 
Dexter, Heaphy, Mrs. Fitzhenry, Mrs. Kennedy, and 
Mrs. Dancer. In that year, or a little later, he left 
Dublin, in order to assume the management of the the- 
atre at Plymouth, with which his name was ever after- 
wards associated. In 1764, still holding his Plymouth 
house, he became associated with Mrs. Pitt, in the direc- 
tion of the theatre at Exeter, and in 1765, conjointly 
with Josiah Foote, a tradesman of that town, he pur- 
chased Mrs. Pitt's interest in the property and renewed 
the lease; but in 1767 he sold his share of the estate 
to his partner, Foote, and after that time he seems to 
have concentrated his attention upon the care of the 
Plymouth theatre. He managed, indeed, at one or two 
other places, and he appeared at Drury Lane, his name 
being occasionally found in the casts of plays that were 
presented there all along the period from 1751 to 1776. 
Put he never appeared in that theatre after his friend 
Garrick left it [June 10, 1776] ; and after Garrick's death 
[January 20, 1779], when that resplendent career of 
only thirty-five years was ended, he seems never to have 
cared again to associate himself with London theatrical 
life. Besides, he was now about fifty years of age, with 
his children growing up around him, and his circum- 



JEFFERSON THE FIRST. 13 

stances had assumed a settled character, such as natu- 
rally restricted him to the safer fields of unadventurous 
industry. 

The rank of Thomas Jefferson among the actors of 
his time was, undoubtedly, in the first grade, — setting 
aside the names of Garrick, Barry, and Mossop as ex- 
ceptional, and far above their comrades. The dramatic 
period was a storied one, and only a man of uncom- 
monly brilliant talent could have held a conspicuous 
position in the shining group of players which then 
adorned the British stage.* Theatrical powers and en- 
terprises in those days were much more closely concen- 
trated than they have ever been since then, except, per- 
haps, in the best period of the Chestnut and the Park, in 
America, and were subjected to a keener, more thought- 
ful, and more critically exacting attention, on the part 
of the public, than they receive, or, generally, are calcu- 
lated to inspire, at present (1881). The stock com- 
panies were few, and they were composed of performers 
who, for the most part, in the vastly extended theatri- 

* "Henderson (1 747-1 785) was the only legitimate successor to 
Garrick's throne, — the only attendant genius that could wear his man- 
tle. Though it is difficult to compare the others, owing to the peculi- 
arities of their paths, Powell was best in the Romans and fathers ; 
Holland in the ardent spirits of lovers and champions, the Hotspurs 
and Chamonts ; and Jefferson in the kings and tyrants. Of the four, 
Powell and Reddish were the cleverest. But Reddish was differently 
situated ; he lived in Garrick's time, and was one of the many stars, in 
that Augustan era of acting, whose radiance was absorbed in the great 
luminary's. Powell, Holland, and Jefferson were all in the same pre- 
dicament : Mossop, Barry, and Sheridan were the only ones who rose 
into notice from a collision with the Roscius ; but even their memories 
are fading." — John Bernard's "Retrospections of the Stage," Vol L, 
page 15. 



14 THE JEFFERSONS. 

cal area, and the vastly increased demand and remu- 
neration for theatrical entertainments, would now be 
" stars." Jefferson's repute, if not surpassingly brilliant, 
like that of Garrick, was, nevertheless, the guerdon of a 
tried, proved, and sterling merit. He ranked with Barry 
in comedy, — excelling Mossop, Sheridan, and Red- 
dish, — but he was not half so good as Barry in tragedy. 
Yet his tragedy was accounted equal with that of Mack- 
lin, the first great Shylock of the British stage ; and he 
must have been strong, indeed, if he could hold his 
rank against that competitor. The " Thespian Dic- 
tionary " (1805), recording, no doubt, the testimony of 
an eye-witness, says that he " possessed a pleasing coun- 
tenance, strong expression and compass of voice, and 
was excellent in declamatory parts." His abilities, ob- 
viously, were considerable, and were well trained ; and 
they must have been versatile, too, for the chronicles 
show that he was sometimes accepted as a substitute 
for Garrick ; that he was even thought to resemble him 
in appearance ; and that he was accounted a compe- 
tent actor throughout a remarkably wide range of parts. 
In the course of the twenty-five years, during which he 
acted at odd intervals in Drury Lane, he was seen in fifty- 
nine characters, and the list of his performances re- 
niiins incomplete. These parts, and the plays in 
which they occur, are here named, with occasional 
explanatory comment : — 

PARTS ACTED BY JEF1 1 RSQN THE FIRST. 

Dunelm, in " Athelstan." Tragedy. By Dr. John Browne, 
om 1 Bishop of Carlisle. Drury Lane, 1756. 
Belford, and als.. Count Baldwin, in "The Fatal Marriage, 



JEFFERSON THE FIRST. 15 

or the Innocent Adultery." Tragedy. By Thomas Southerne. 
1694. Altered by Garrick, and called " Isabella, or the Fatal 
Marriage." Drury Lane-. 

Lyon, in " The Reprisal, or The Tars of Old England." Farce. 
By Tobias Smollett, the great novelist. Drury Lane, 1757. 
Garrick had rejected a poor play by this author, entitled " The 
Regicide," and Smollett had subsequently satirized him, as 
Brayer, in Mr. Melopyn's story, in " Roderick Random." Gar- 
rick's acceptance of this poor farce of " The Tars " may, there- 
fore, be viewed as an act either of magnanimity or prudence. 
He was exceedingly sensitive to those expressions of opinion — 
almost always idle, superficial, ignorant, and worthless — which 
mankind denominates criticism. 

Colonel Lambert,m " The Hypocrite." This piece is an altera- 
tion of Cibber's play of " The Nonjuror " ( 1718), which, in turn, 
was based on Moliere's " Tartuffe," and was made by Isaac 
Bickerstaffe, 1768. The chief part in "The Nonjuror " is Dr. 
Wolf, " an English Popish priest " who pretends to be an 
English churchman. In " The Hypocrite " Mawworm is the 
principal part, and this-was acted, with great ability, by Tom 
Weston. Drury Lane. 

Cubla, in " Zingis." Tragedy. By Alexander Dow. Drury 
Lane, 1769. 

Kathel, in " The Fatal Discovery." Drury Lane, 1769. A 
weak tragedy by the Rev. John Home, author of " Douglas " 
— so amusingly described by Thackeray, in the nth chapter, 
Book III. of " The Virginians." It is recorded that the Rev. 
Mr. Home was so unpopular, on political grounds, at the time 
of the production of this tragedy, that, when the fact of its 
authorship became known, the malcontents threatened to burn 
the theatre, if the piece was not withdrawn ; and Garrick, ac- 
cordingly, withdrew it, after the twelfth night. 

Palamede, in "The Frenchified Lady Never In Paris." Com- 
edy. By Henry Dell. Covent Garden, 1757. This piece is 
based on plays by Dryden and Cibber. 

Megistus, in " Zenobia." Tragedy. By Arthur Murphy. 
Drury Lane, 1768. Adapted from the French of Crebillon. 



1 6 THE JEFFERSONS. 

Careless, in "The Committee, or the Faithful Irishman." 
Comedy. By Sir Robert Howard. 1665. 

Osivald, in " King Arthur." 

Jarvis, in " The Gamester." Comedy. By Susanna Centli- 
vre. Lincoln's Inn Fields, 1705; Drury Lane, 1758. There 
is an earlier play, with this title, by James Shirley (1637), which 
was altered by Garrick, and brought out at Drury Lane, in 
1758; and there is a later one, by Edward Moore (1753), in 
which Mrs. Siddons acted Mrs. Beverley, and John Palmer was 
great as Stukeley. Moore is buried in Lambeth churchyard, 
near the old Palace. 

Trueman, "in "The Twin Rivals." Comedy. By George 
Farquhar. Drury Lane, 1703. 

Johnson, in " The Rehearsal." This capital comedy, by 
George Villiers, second Duke of Buckingham (1627, i6S8),was 
produced at the Theatre Royal, in 1672, and in after years it 
afforded to Garrick, in the character of Baycs, originally Bllboa, 
an opportunity, which he brilliantly improved, for satirical imi- 
tation of the noted actors of the time : and " The Rehearsal," 
as is well known, suggested to Sheridan the admirably humor- 
ous farce of "The Critic." 

Cleomenes, in " Florizel and Perdita." Pastoral Drama, in 
three acts, altered from Shakespeare's lovely comedy of "A 
Winter's Tale," by Garrick, and produced at Drury Lane, in 

1756. 

Friar John, in Shakespeare's tragedy of " Romeo and Juliet." 
This part is nowa-days omitted. 

The Music Maslcr, in Shakespeare's comedy of " The Taming 
of the Shrew." 

Sir Tan Thy, in "The Male Coquette, or Seventeen Hun- 
dred Fifty-seven." Farce. By Garrick. Drury Lane, 1757. 

The Emperor of Germany, in " The Heroine of the Cave." 
Tragedy. Begun by Henry Jones, and finished by Paul Hiffer- 
nan. Acted, for the benefit of Reddish, March 10, 177.4. 

Mirabel, in "The Way of the World." Comedy. By Willi. mi 
Congreve. Drury Lam-, 1700. Jefferson acted this pari for 

the benefit of Mrs. Abington, one of whose most intimate 



JEFFERSON THE FIRST. \J 

friends he is stated to have been (Victor's " Secret History of 
the Green Room"). 

Frances Barton Abington, the brilliant actress, thus asso- 
ciated with the memory of Jefferson the First, remained, to 
the end of her days, one of the most fascinating of women. 
She has been amply commemorated in biography. She was 
born in London, in 1737, and died there, at her house in Pall 
Mall, in March, 1S15. A life-like glimpse of her is given by 
John Taylor, in his charming " Records of my Life," p. 230 ; 
and another by Henry Crabb Robinson, in his " Reminiscences," 
p. 214. Her maiden name was Frances Barton. She married 
a musician named Abington, but subsequently left him. Her first 
appearance was made at the London Haymarket Theatre, in 
1755, as Miranda, in "The Busybody," and her last public 
appearance occurred on x\pril 12,. 1799. She was accounted 
a great Beatrice, in " Much Ado," and she was the original 
Lady' Teazle, in " The School For Scandal," — a part which she 
made a fine lady throughout, with no trace of rustic origin. 
Garrick referred to her as " that most worthless creature, 
Abington : she is below the thoughts of any honest man. She 
is as silly as she is false and treacherous." Mrs. Abington is 
buried in St. James's, Piccadilly. 

H. C. Robinson's account of her is comparatively fresh 
to theatrical readers, and therefore is quoted here: — "June 
16, 1S11. — Dined at Sergeant Rough's, and met the once 
celebrated Mrs. Abington. From her present appearance one 
can hardly suppose she could ever have been otherwise than 
plain. She herself laughed at her snub-nose ; but she is 
erect, has a large, blue, expressive eye, and an agreeable 
voice. She spoke of her retirement from the stage as occa- 
sioned by the vexations of a theatrical life. She said she should 
have gone mad, if she had not quitted her profession. She has 
lost all her professional feelings, and when she goes to the 
theatre can laugh and cry like a child ; but the trouble is too 
great, and she does not often go. 

" It is so much a thing of course that a retired actor should 
be a laudator temporis acti, that I felt unwilling to draw from 



1 8 THE JEFFERSONS. 

her any opinion of her successors. Mrs. Siddons, however, 
she praised, though not with the warmth of a genuine admirer. 
She said : " Early in life Mrs. Siddons was anxious to succeed in 
comedy, and played Rosalind before I retired." In speaking 
of the modern declamation and the too elaborate emphasis 
given to insignificant words, she said, " That was brought in by 
them " (the Kembles). She spoke with admiration of the 
Covent Garden horses, and I have no doubt that her praise was 
meant to have the effect of satire. 

" Of all the present actors Murray most resembles Garrick. 
She spoke of Barry with great warmth. He was a nightingale. 
Such a voice was never heard. He confined himself to char- 
acters of great tenderness and sweetness, such as Romeo. She 
admitted the infinite superiority of Garrick, in genius. His 
excellence lay in the bursts and quick transitions of passion, 
and in the variety and universality of his genius. Mrs. Abing- 
ton would not have led me to suppose she had been on the stage, 
by either her manner or the substance of her conversation. 
She speaks with the ease of a person used to good society, 
rather than with the assurance of one whose business it was to 
imitate that ease." 

Col. Britton, in " The Wonder." Comedy. By Susanna 
Centlivre. Drury Lane, 17 13-14. 

Mercury, in " Amphytrion." This piece is from the Latin, 
of Titus Maccius Plautus. It was adapted by Moliere, and 
afterwards by Dryden. An alteration of Dryden's piece,, made 
by Dr. Hawkesworth, at Garrick's request, was produced at 
Drury Lane, in 1756. 

Bland/ord, in " The Royal Slave." Tragi-comedy. By William 
Cartwright, 1639. First acted in 1636, at Oxford, before 
Charles I. 

Lord Morclove, in " The Careless Husband." Theatre Royal, 
1705. This is Colley Gibber's most polished comedy, and by 
some judges is considered his best. Lady Betty Modish occurs 
in it, — in which part Mrs. Oldfield " excellently acted an agree- 
ably gay woman of quality, a little too conscious of her natural 
attractions." Lord Morelove is her devoted lover. 






JEFFERSOX THE FIRST. 19 

Careless, in " The Double Gallant, or The Sick Lady's Cure." 
Comedy. By Colley Cibber. Haymarket, 1707. 

Velasco, in " Alonzo," another bad tragedy by the Rev. John 
Home. Drury Lane, 1773. 

Colonel Rivers, in " False Delicacy," a once famous comedy, 
by Hugh Kelly. Drury Lane, 1768. Jefferson acted this for 
his own benefit, in 1773. 

Don Frederick, and also Don John, in "The Chances." — 
Comedy. By Beaumont and Fletcher, 1647. Altered by the 
Duke of Buckingham, 16S2. Altered by Garrick (1773), who 
acted Don John. Drury Lane. 

The Earl of Devon, in "Alfred." Tragedy. By David 
Mallet: altered by Garrick. Drury Lane, 1773. 

Gloster, in "Jane Shore." Tragedy. By Nicholas Rowe. 
Drury Lane, 1713. In 1772 Mrs. Canning, — mother of the 
great statesman, George Canning (1770-1827), then a child of 
two years, — made her first appearance on the stage, acting 
Jane Shore, in this piece. Garrick acted Shore. An allusion 
to this incident occurs in Bernard's "Retrospections" (Vol. I. 
p. 13), as follows : " At Drury Lane I remember seeing 'Jane 
Shore,' on the evening that Mrs. Canning, the widow of an 
eminent counsellor, made her debut, as the heroine. She was 
patronized by numerous persons of distinction, and the house 
was very favorable towards her. But, independently of the 
personal interest which attended her attempt, Mrs. Canning 
put forth claims upon the approbation of the critical. One 
thing, however, must be admitted ; she was wonderfully well 
supported. Garrick was the Hastings, and Reddish (her future 
husband), the Dumont. I little thought as I sat in the pit 
that night, an ardent boy of sixteen, that I then beheld the 
lady who was destined, at some fifteen years' distance, to be- 
come the leading feature in a company of my own ; nor that 
in the Gloster of the night, — admirably acted by Jefferson, — 
I beheld my partner in that management. (Plymouth)." 

Captain Worthy, in " The Fair Quaker, or The Humours of 
the Navy." Comedy. By Charles Shadwell, 1710: altered by 
Captain Edward Thompson. Drury Lane, 1773. 



20 THE JEFFERSONS. 

Sunderland, in " the Note of Hand, or A Trip to Newmarket." 
Farce. By Richard Cumberland. Drury Lane, 1774. 

Good-d'in, in " The Brothers." Tragedy. By Dr. Edward 
Young, author of "Night Thoughts." Drury Lane, 1753. 

Jacques, in Shakespeare's comedy of " As You Like It." 

Clytus, in " Alexander the Great," altered from Nathaniel 
Lee's tragedy of " The Rival Queens, or The Death of Alex- 
ander the Great." Theatre Royal, 1677. Produced at both 
Covent Garden and Drury Lane, 1770. Roxana and Statira 
are in this play. Revived at Drury Lane, 1795. The author, a 
brilliant genius, died, at thirty-five, in 1691 or 1692, shortly after 
being released from Bedlam. He was a lunatic. 

Sir Epicure Mammon, in " The Alchemist." This piece was 
an alteration of Ben Jonson's comedy. Garrick acted Abel 
Drugger, and was famously good in the character. A remark- 
ably fine painting of Garrick as Abel Drugger is in the collec- 
tion of Jefferson the Fourth, at Hohokus, New Jersey. Garrick's 
performance of Abel Drugger was so good that an infatuated 
young lady, who had begun matrimonial negotiations with him, 
became disgusted, and abandoned her project ; while a gentle- 
man from Lichfield, who had brought from Garrick's brother 
a letter of introduction to the great actor, would not deliver it, 
after seeing this impersonation — so great was his contempt for 
the person he then saw. 

Garrick's acting of this part is described as follows : " Abel 
Druggets first appearance would disconcert the muscular 
economy of the wisest. His attitude, his dread of offendingthe 
doctor, his saying nothing, his gradual stealing in further and 
further, his impatience to be introduced, his joy to his friend 
/• . arc imitable by none. When he first opens his mouth 
the features of his face seem, as it were, to drop upon his 
tongue; it is all caution — it is timorous, stammering, and inex- 
pressible. When he stands under the conjuror, to have his 
features examined, his teeth, his beard, his little finger, Ids 
awkward simplicity, and his concern, mixed with hope, and 
fear, and joy, and avarice, and good nature, are beyond paint- 
ing." — Lic/ttcubcrg, translated by Tbm Taylor. 






JEFFERSON THE FIRST. 21 

Leonato, in Shakespeare's comedy of "Much Ado About 
Nothing." 

Heartfree, in " The Provoked Wife." Comedy. By Sir 
John Vanbrugh. Lincoln's Inn Fields, 1697. Never acted 
now, and seldom read. Quin was distinguished in it, as Sir 
John Brute. 

Littlestock, in "The Gamesters," a comedy by Garrick, 1758, 
altered from " The Gamester," by James Shirley, 1637. 

Lord Trinket, in " The Jealous Wife," that well known and 
still admired corned} 7 , by George Colman. Drury Lane, 1761. 

Dolabella, in " All For Love, or The World Well Lost," — the 
tragedy in which Dryden gave his imitation of Shakespeare's 
" Antony and Cleopatra," and which he said was the only one 
of his plays that he had written for himself. Theatre Royal, 
1678. Dr. Johnson remarks of this play that the author, " by 
admitting the romantic omnipotence of love, has recommended 
as laudable and worthy of imitation that^conduct which through 
all ages the good have censured as vicious, and the bad despised 
as foolish." 

Lovemore, in " The Way to Keep Him," a three-act comedy 
by Arthur Murphy- Drury Lane, 1760. Jefferson acted this 
for his own benefit, in 1771. 

The Duke Orsino, in Shakespeare's comedy of " Twelfth 
Night." 

King Claudiits, in "Hamlet" — the Melancholy Dane being 
acted by Garrick. 

Aubrey, in " The Fashionable Lover," a comedy by Richard 
Cumberland. Drury Lane. 1772. 

Iachh?w, and also Cloten, in Shakespeare's tragedy of " Cym- 
beline," altered by Garrick. 1761. 

Mathusius, in " Tamanthes." 

Horatio, in " The Fair Penitent." Tragedy. By Nicholas 
Rowe. Lincoln's Inn Fields, 1703. 

Balance in " The Recruiting Officer " — one of the finest com- 
edies of Farquhar. Drury Lane, 1705. The scene is Shrewsbury, 
one of the most interesting old towns in England. Farquhar 
himself was once a recruiting officer there, and he is thought to 



22 THE JEFFERSONS. 

have drawn his own character, in that of Captain Plume. His 
Justice Balance was designed as a compliment to a worthy 
gentleman, resident in that neighborhood, — Mr. Berkely, then 
recorder of Shrewsbury. Jefferson acted Balance, on occa- 
sions of his own benefit, in 1775 and 1776. 

Tullius Hostilius, in " The Roman Father." Drury Lane, 
1750. This is a tragedy by William Whitehead, who succeeded 
Cibber, as Poet-Laureate, in 1757. It is based on the Roman 
story of the Horatii and the Curiatii, treated in "Les Horaces," 
by Corneille, and made immortal by Rachel. 

Vaiulove, in "The Old Bachelor." Comedy. By William 
Congreve (his first piece). Theatre Royal, 1693. 

Fairjield, in " The Man of the Mill." 1765. This was a 
burlesque tragical opera, written by " Signor Squallini," in 
travesty of "The Maid of the Mill," by Isaac Bickerstaffe,— 
a comic opera, on the subject of Samuel Richardson's novel 
of " Pamela." Covent Garden, 1765. 

Carlos, in " The Revenge," a tragedy, by Dr. Edward Young, 
author of " Night Thoughts." Drury Lane, 1721. 

Gratiano, in Shakespeare's comedy of " The Merchant of 
Venice." 

Siffredi, in " Tancred and Sigismunda." Tragedy. By James 
Thomson, author of "The Seasons." The plot of this piece is 
found in " Gil Bias." Drury Lane, 1745. 

Myrtle, in "The Corsican Lovers." 

The Duke of Btickingham, in Cibber's alteration of Shake- 
speare's tragedy of " Richard the Third." Drury Lane, 1700. 

This array represents, of course, but a small part of 
his professional labor and achievement. On the pro- 
vincial stage, and when he had become a manager, he 
acted everything, from Hamlet to the Bleeding Soldier^ 
and thus emphatically was one who ran 

" Through each mood of the lyre and was master of all." 

An indication of the professional rank of Jefferson 
the First — and also of that of his wife, who is elsewhere 



JEFFERSON THE FIRST. 



23 



described — occurs in a Scale of the Merits of the Per- 
formers on the Dublin Stage, about the year 1-760-63. 
This document was printed in a letter signed " Theatri- 
cus," published in the "London Chronicle," Vol. XV., 
and quoted in Malcolm's " Anecdotes of the Manners 
and Customs of London, during the Eighteenth Cen- 
tury," Vol. II. p. 247. 



Men. 


Tragedy. 


Comedy. 


Women. 


Tragedy. < 


Zomedy 


Mr. Barry . . 


20 . 


10 


Mrs. Dancer. . 


• 14 • 


16 


" Mossop . . 


x 5 • 


6 


" Fitz Henry 


. 14 . 


6 


" Sheridan . 


IS • 


6 


" Abington . 


. 


18 


" Macklin 


8 . 


15 


" Hamilton . 


. 10 . 


12 


" Sowdcra . . 


13 • 


12 


" Kennedy . 


. 8 . 


10 


" Dexter . . 


10 . 


12 


" Keif . . 


. 8 . 


10 


" T. Barry . 


10 . 


8 


" Barry . . 


. 8 . 


10 


" Ryder . . 


6 . 


12 


" Jefferson 


. 6 . 


8 


" Stamper. . 


. 


12 


" Ambrose . 


. . 


8 


11 Sparks . . 


. 


12 


" Mahon . . 


. . 


6 


" Jefferson 


8 . 


10 


11 Roach . . 


. . 


6 


" Heaphy. . 


6 . 


8 


" Parsons . . 


. . 


6 


" Reddish . 


6 . 


8 








" Walker . . 


. 


8 








" Glover . . 


4 • 


8 








" Mahon . . 


4 • 


6 









A reprint of one of the Drury Lane play-bills of 
Jefferson's time will not be inappropriate here. It is 
given from an original, and is a reduced fac-simile. 
Almost every name in it was famous. The Mrs. Pritch- 
ard was Dr. Johnson's "inspired idiot," the greatest 
Lady Macbeth of the eighteenth century. The Mrs. 
Davies was the wife of Tom Davies, actor, author, and 
bookseller, the man who introduced Boswell to Dr. 
Johnson. Her beauty is commemorated in a couplet 
by Churchill, and she died in the almshouse. Wood- 
ward was fine as Mercutio and Touchstone, and was 
deemed the model of all grace. The Miss Macklin was 
Maria, daughter of the great Shy lock. 



Theatre Royal in Drury-Lane, 

This prefent Wednefday, being the 24th of Oclober, 
Will be Revived a COMEDY, call'd 

The OLD BATCHELOR. 

Fondlewife by Mr. F O O T E, 

Bellmour by Mr. PALME R, 

Sharper by Mr. HAVARD, 

Vainlove by Mr. JEFFERSON, 

Heart well by Mr. BERRY, 

Sir 5W/>A /F///W Mr. WOODWARD, 

Noll Bluffe by Mr. YATES, 

Setter by Mr. BLAKES, 

Belinda by Mifs HAUGHTON, 

Araminta by Mrs. D A V I E S, 

ty/w* by 'Mrs. C O W P E R, 

Lucy by Mrs. B E N N E T, 

Latitia by Mrs. PRITCHARD. 

In Aft III. a DANCE proper to the Play, by 
Monf. GERARD,™* Mad. LUSSANT. 

To which will be added a COMEDY in Two Adls, call'd 

The Englifhman in PARIS. 

Buck by Mr. FOOT E, 
Lucinda by Mifs M A C K L I N, 

( Being the Third 'rime of her appearing upon thai St vge. | 

With a New Occafional PROLOGUE, 
and the Original E P I LOG U E, 

Bo 

the Boxes to be had oi Mr V ARN1 Y, at the Stage- 
door ol the 'I I 
t No Per/on* to be admitted behind the Scenes, nor any Money ' 

returned a/tet tht ( urtain U drawn up. Vivat A' A' A'. 



JEFFERSON THE FIRST. 2$ 

Jefferson the First was twice married. His first wife 
was a Miss May, daughter of a gentleman connected 
with the British Navy, and, according to Gilliland's 
" Dramatic Mirror," he agreed, in marrying her, to forfeit 
£500 to her father, in case she should ever appear upon 
the stage. This was at the town of Lewes, where Jef- 
ferson acted for two seasons, under the name of Bur- 
ton, in the dramatic company of a manager named 
Williams. A number of the ladies of that place, on a 
subsequent occasion, wished that Mrs. Jefferson should 
appear in a dramatic performance under their patron- 
age ; and, finding Mr. May's bond an obstacle to their 
desire, they actually succeeded in persuading him to 
annul it. Mrs. Jefferson thereupon acted Lady Char- 
lotte, in Sir Richard Steele's comedy of '' The Funeral " 
(1702). "The ladies," says the " Mirror," "provided the 
females of the company with dresses for the piece, and 
it was played three nights, each person's share amount- 
ing to six guineas." The first appearance of this 
actress on the London stage was made at Drury Lane, 
October 6th, 1753, as Anne Bullen. 

Mrs. Jefferson was a beautiful woman, and of a lovely 
disposition, and that part of the married life of Jeffer- 
son the First which was passed in her society was se- 
renely happy. She bore him two sons, — John and 
Joseph. The former became a clergyman of the Church 
of England, and went as a missionary to China, where 
he was immediately murdered by persons who differed 
with him in religious opinion. In Ryley's " Itinerant," 
(1808), a mention is made of John Jefferson, a son of 
Thomas, who, it is said, " was very tall, very slim, very 



26 THE JEFFERSONS. 

sallow, and a very poor actor " ; and it is further stated 
that he was of a religious turn of mind, and was called 
"The Parson." This may have been the pious gentle- 
man who " disagreed " with the savages. The latter 
son (Jefferson the Second) became an actor, and, after 
a brief career in England, emigrated to America, and 
established the family in this country. The mother of 
these boys, whenever named in old theatrical chroni- 
cles, is named not merely with honor and affection, but 
with a certain evident wonder that so much beauty 
could coexist with so much goodness. Even her death 
bore witness to the sunshine of her nature ; for she 
died of laughter. Tom Davies, in his " Life of Gar- 
rick," records this incident, and prettily describes the 
heroine of this comical disaster : — 

" Britannia was represented by Mrs. Jefferson, the 
most complete figure, in beauty of countenance and 
symmetry of form I ever beheld. This good woman — 
for she was as virtuous as fair — was so unaffected and 
simple in her behavior that she knew not her power of 
charming. Her beautiful figure and majestic step, in 
the character of Anne Bullen, drew the admiration of 
all who saw her. She was very tall, and had she been 
happy in ability to represent characters of consequence, 
she would have been an excellent partner in tragedy 
for Mr. Barry. In the vicissitudes of itinerant acting 
she had been often reduced, from the small number of 
players in the company she belonged to, to disguise 
her lovely form and to assume parts very unsuitable to 
so delicate a < reature. When she was asked whit char- 
acters she excelled in most, she innocently replied, 



JEFFERSON THE FIRST. 2 J 

"old men in comedy," — meaning such parts as Fon- 
dlewife, in " The Old Bachelor," and Sir Jealous 
Traffic, in "The Busybody." She died suddenly at 
Plymouth as she was looking at a dance that was prac- 
tising for the night's representation. In the midst of a 
hearty laugh she was seized with a sudden pain, and 
expired in the arms of Mr. Moody, who happened to 
stand by, and saved her from falling on the ground." 
This is said to have occurred on the 18th of July, 
1766. 

It is a traditional remembrance in the Jefferson fam- 
ily that the proximate cause of this catastrophe was, in 
fact, a rehearsal of Dicky Gossip, by Edward Shuter, 
who had come from London to play at the Plymouth 
Theatre. This comedian, the original representative of 
Mr. Hardcastle, in " She Stoops to Conquer," and of 
Sir Anthony Absolute, in " The Rivals," was thought 
by Garrick to be the greatest comic genius of his time. 
Shuter died in 1776. "I remember him as Justice 
Woodcock, Scrub, Peachum, and Sir Francis Gripe. . . 
His acting was a compound of truth, simplicity, and 
luxuriant humor. Never was an actor more popular 
than Shuter." — John Taylor's u Records of my Life." 
" He was more bewildered in his brain by wishing to 
acquire imaginary grace, than by all his drinking : like 
Mawworm, he believed he had a 'call."— Tate Wil- 
kinson. Shuter was a devout Methodist, and a fine 
Falstaff. The part of Britannia, mentioned by Davies 
as allotted to Mrs. Jefferson, occurs in a masque with 
that name, written by David Mallet, and first produced 
at Drury Lane in 1755. The music was composed by 



28 THE JEFFERSONS. 

Dr. Arne. A comic prologue to this piece, written by 
Mallet and Garrick, and spoken by the latter, made 
a brilliant hit, the idea being a tipsy sailor reading a 
play bill, with allusions to war with the French. "The 
Old Bachelor " is the earliest of Congreve's comedies, 
(1693), and "The Busybody," still occasionally acted, 
is one of Susanna Centlivre's (1709). Mrs. Jefferson is 
mentioned by Geneste, as having played Mrs. Fainall, 
in Congreve's comedy of " The Way of the World " 
(1700), at Drury Lane, on March 15th, 1774, for the 
benefit of Mrs. Abington. Her attributes and rank as 
an actress may be deduced from these facts. 

There is a discrepancy of dates bearing on the ma- 
ternity of Jefferson the Second, which should be stated 
here. The death of the first Mrs. Thomas Jefferson is 
said by one authority to have occurred in 1766; by 
another, in 1768. The birth of Jefferson the Second is 
assigned to either 1774 or 1776. Accordingly he could 
not have been the son of his father's first wife. Yet it 
is known that he had a step-mother : one cause of his 
leaving home and emigrating to America, indeed, was 
his dissatisfaction with his father's matrimonial alliance : 
and there is no record that Jefferson the First was 
ever married more than twice. It would be irksome 
to abandon the belief that the mirth-making nice of 
Jefferson has descended from the lovely lady who died 
of laughter on the Plymouth stage ; but it seems obvious 
from this presentation of the records that either the 
date of her death or of the younger Jefferson's birth 
has been incorrectly stated, or that Jefferson the First 
in reality had three wives, and that Jefferson the Second 



JEFFERSON THE FIRST. 29 

was the son of the second of them. One account of 
him says that he was born literally on the stage, and 
that his mother died shortly afterwards. It is a coinci- 
dence, bearing on this question of descent, that Jeffer- 
son the Fourth (Rip Van Winkle) suffers excruciating 
agony at the base of the brain, from any inordinate 
laughter into which he may be impelled. 

Tate Wilkinson, in his agreeable " Memoirs of His 
Own Life " (1790), a work containing several instruct- 
ive allusions to Jefferson the First, pays a passing trib- 
ute to the first Mrs. Jefferson, when referring to the 
Exeter episode of Jefferson's career as a manager : 
" Early in December, 1764, I set off for Exeter, where 
Mr. Jefferson, my old friend and acquaintance in Dub- 
lin and London, was then become the manager, and 
everything then promised most flatteringly that he 
would soon make a fortune. But the substance is often 
changed for a shadow, nor are managers' gains so 
easily amassed as the public can gather it for them. 
His invitation had double allurement : first, novelty, 
which was ever prevalent ; and next, to see so pleasant 
and friendly a man as he had ever proved to me. I 
joined him and his new troop. Mr. Jefferson was at 
that time endeavoring — not without encouragement — 
to bring that theatre into a regular and established rep- 
utation. He had engaged Mr. Reddish* and many 
other good performers. Mrs. Jefferson, his first wife, 

* Samuel Reddish. — He was born in 1740, became insane in 
1779, and died in 1785 in an asylum, at York. John Taylor, who saw 
and knew him, records that he chiefly distinguished himself in the 
characters — in Shakespeare — of Edgar, Posthumus, and Henry the 
Sixth. — W. W. 



30 THE JEFFERSONS. 

was then living. She had one of the best dispositions 
that ever harbored in a human breast ; and, more ex- 
traordinary, joined to that meekness, she was one of 
the most elegant women ever beheld." 

Jefferson's second (or third) wife was a Miss Wood, sis- 
ter to a public singer of that name, then somewhat distin- 
guished in London. She was a worthy lady, though less 
amiable than her predecessor, and unpropitious toward 
her step-son. She did not attempt the stage. The chil- 
dren of this union were two sons, Frank and George, 
and two daughters, Frances and Elizabeth. Frank has 
previously been mentioned, as at one time commander 
of the royal yacht in Virginia Water, at Windsor. 
George became an actor, and a respectably good one ; 
and he also had talent as a painter. It is said that a 
titled lady, resident near Ripon, established in her 
manor-house a small gallery of his works, and regularly 
bought everything that he painted, — binding him, by- 
contract, not to sell his productions to any other per- 
son. Elizabeth died in youth. Frances was married 
to Mr. Samuel Butler, manager of the Harrowgate, 
Beverley, and Richmond Theatres, Yorkshire ; and in 
after time was herself known upon the stage, both as 
manager and actress. Mr. F. C. Wemyss, when a youth 
of eighteen, joined Mrs. Butler's dramatic company 
(April 12th, 1815) at Kendal, in Westmoreland ; and he 
records, in his " Theatrical Biography," that he there 
\\;i- introduced by the lady to Mr. George Jefferson, her 
brother, who was stage manager. This branch of the Jef- 
ferson family, however, has contributed nothing of per- 
manent importance to the stage. A passing reference, 



JEFFERSON THE FIRST. 31 

though, should be made to the professional career of 
Mr. Samuel Butler, son of the Mr. and Mrs. Samuel But- 
ler above mentioned, grandson of Jefferson the First, and 
nephew of Jefferson the Second. This actor appeared at 
the Bowery Theatre, New York, on December 14th, 1831, 
as Coriolanus, and subsequently he played Virginins, 
and other parts, but he did not attract much attention. 
On November 4th, 1841, he came forward at the Park 
Theatre, as Hamlet, and on November 9th acted Wal- 
der, in " Walder, the Avenger." Ireland refers to him 
and says : " Handsome in person, graceful in action, 
and correct in elocution, he still lacked the inspiration 
necessary to rank him as an artist of the first class." 
His wife, who accompanied him, is mentioned as hav- 
ing surpassed him in public favor, — acting Louisa, in 
" The Dead Shot," and also Gil Bias. Mr. and Mrs. 
Butler returned to England, and both are now dead. 

Jefferson the First had a long career. He was on 
the stage from about 1 746 to almost the day of his death, 
in 1807, — a period of sixty years. At first a rover, he 
saw many parts of the kingdom, and became a favorite 
in the theatrical circles of many communities. He then 
settled, as the reader has seen, into the steady groove 
of theatrical management, and there remained till the 
last. His most prosperous days were those that he 
passed at Plymouth, where it is singular to consider he 
was established quite by chance. He had been asked 
to come there as manager of the Plymouth Theatre, for 
a salary and one -third of the profits, and he agreed to 
come, on condition that the interior of the theatre 
should be renovated. This was promised, and he there- 



32 THE JEFEERSONS. 

upon sent forward carpenters and painters, from the 
theatre at Dublin, where he happened to be acting, to 
do this work. Before these artisans reached Plymouth 
the owner of the theatre, a Mr. Kerby, had died ; nev- 
ertheless they were permitted by his representative to 
proceed in their task. Jefferson soon followed with 
his theatrical company, but on arriving was much as- 
tonished to learn that all the building materials used by 
his mechanics had been supplied on the credit of his 
own name, which was well known and highly respected, 
and that he now already owed £261 to the tradespeo- 
ple of the town. The heir-at-law refused to assume 
this debt, or undertake any responsibility in the matter ; 
and, thus hampered, Jefferson determined to secure a 
lease of the theatre, — buying its scenery and ward- 
robe, — and to make Plymouth his permanent resi- 
dence. This project was fulfilled. He remained the 
sole proprietor till 1770, when he sold one-third inter- 
est to the Mr. Foote, of Exeter, with whom, in the 
meantime, he had been associated in the ownership of 
the theatre at that town, and another third to a Mr. 
Wolfe, of Pynn. This partnership lasted till 1784, 
when, upon the death of Foote, Jefferson inherited half 
his share, and Wolfe the other half, in trust. Three 
years later, in the winter of 1 787, John Bernard* 

* John Bernard. — This actor, famous in his day for the perfec- 
tion of his dry humor and finished manners, and equally excellent in the 
lines of acting typified by Lord OglebyvaA Dashwould, was born at 
Portsmouth, England, in 1756. He '.vent on the stage in 1774 and left 
it in 1S20. After a time of provincial tribulation, he succeeded in win- 
rank on the London stage, and was loi 1 ovent 
Garden. W ed him to come to Philadelphia in 1797, and he 



JEFFERSON THE FIRST. 33 

purchased from Jefferson a third interest in the Ply- 
mouth Theatre, for £400, and thereafter Jefferson, Ber- 
nard, and Wolfe were partners in its management, till 
the season of 1795-96, when Bernard sold his share, 
(apparently to another Mr. Foote,) and emigrated to 
America. Jefferson, a great sufferer from gout, was 
now become very infirm, — so that he had to be 
helped in and out from house to theatre, — and he did 
not long retain his Plymouth property, after Bernard's 
departure, but sold it for the consideration of an an- 
nual benefit, clear of .expenses, as long as he should 
live. This contract was fulfilled, and the veteran re- 
ceived a testimonial each year till his death.* He de- 
rived support, also, as an annuitant from " The Covent 
Garden Theatrical Fund," of which he had long been 
a member. His last days, notwithstanding illness and 
trouble, were marked by resignation and cheerfulness. 
He was an entertaining companion, and always in good 

was there connected with the Chestnut Street Theatre until 1803, when 
he removed to Boston, where he remained three years. In 1807 he 
appeared at the New York Park, and he was last seen in New York in 
1 813 at the Commonwealth Theatre, corner of Broadway and White 
street. He ultimately returned to England, and died in London, No- 
vember 29th, 1828, aged seventy-two. His "Retrospections of the 
Stage," edited by his son William Bayle Bernard, is a charming book, 
and indeed one of the best contributions that have ever been made to the 
history of the English stage. He left papers, also, from which his son 
compiled and edited " Early Days of the American Stage," published 
in Tallis's " Dramatic Magazine " (December 1850, ct seq.). Ba^yle Ber- 
nard died in London, August gth, 1S75. He was tne author of many 
plays, notably of two versions of " Rip Van Winkle." — W. W. 

* "Jefferson's benefit (at Plymouth) is always well and fashiona- 
bly attended, and we are happy to add the last two years have been par- 
ticularly lucrative." — Gill'dand 1 s Dramatic Mirror. 



34 THE JEFFERSOXS. 

spirits. His last appearance on the stage was made in 
Aaron Hill's tragedy of " Zara," as the aged, dying mon- 
arch, Lusignan, a character whom he represented, 
seated in a chair. Wood mentions this incident, in his 
" Personal Recollections," and refers to an acquaint- 
ance of his, who was present on this night and witnessed 
the ceremony of Jefferson's final retirement. The trag- 
edy of " Zara," produced at Drury Lane in 1736, was 
borrowed from Voltaire's "Zaire." At the time of his 
death, which speedily followed his farewell, Jefferson was 
at Ripon, on a visit to the home of his daughter Frances 
(Mrs. Butler), and it was there that he was seen by Mr. 
Drinkwater Meadows. His residence in Plymouth was 
a house adjoining the theatre, and a view of these prem- 
ises, taken from James Winston's " Theatric Tourist," 
is one of the illustrations of this biography. Winston 
directs attention to the comedian's bedroom window, 
which, he says, is an object in this print. It was in 
this theatre that the first Mrs. Jefferson died, and it was 
in this house, no doubt, that Jefferson the Second was 
born, who first made the name conspicuous in Amer- 
ican theatrical history. 

In Bernard's first season with Jefferson (1787) at 
Plymouth, the dramatic company, he says, was " more 
select than numerous. Jefferson, in the old men, se- 
rious and comic, was a host. Wolfe, my other partner, 
was a € respectable actor, and Mrs. Bernard and myself 
were established favorites from the metropolis. Among 
the corps was a Mr. Prigmore," — who afterwards came 
to America. The same sprightly writer describes, in a 
most amusing strain, the average audience with which 



JEFFERSON THE FIRST. 35 

the actors at the Plymouth Theatre were favored : — 
" Sailors in general, I believe, are very fond of play- 
houses. This may be partly because they find their 
ships work-houses, and partly because the former are 
the readiest places of amusement they can visit when 
ashore. I remember, on my first trip to Plymouth, I 
was rather startled at observing the effect which acting 
took on them, as also their mode of conducting them- 
selves during a performance. It was a common oc- 
currence, when no officers were present, for a tar in the 
gallery, who observed a messmate in the pit that he 
wished to address, to sling himself over and descend 
by the pillars, treading on every stray finger and bill in 
his way. When his communication was over, and before 
an officer could seize him, up again he went like a cat, 
and was speedily anchored alongside of 'Bet, sweet Blos- 
som.' The pit they called the hold ; the gallery, up 
aloft, or the main-top landing; the boxes the cabin, 
and the stage the quarter-deck. Every General and 
gentleman they saluted as a skipper; every soldier 
was a jolly, or lobster ; and the varieties of old and 
young men who were not in command they collectively 
designated swabs. Jefferson, being the eldest, was a 
Rear-Admiral, and I was a Commodore." 

The merry temperament of Jefferson and the drifting 
kind of life that he led, in common with his comrades 
of the buskin, in " the good old times," are pleasingly 
suggested in another extract from the same book. This 
anecdote, as showing what manner of man old Thomas 
Jefferson was, seems worth " a whole history " in the way 
of description : — 



36 THE JEFFERSONS. 

"On arriving at Plymouth (1791) I found, to my 
great surprise, the company collected, but no prepara- 
tions for the opening of the theatre. Wolfe and Jeffer- 
son were away, on one of their temporary schemes, and 
their precise point of destination I could not ascertain, 
till Jefferson came over from the little town of Lost- 
withiel, bringing with him the pleasing intelligence that 
the result of the speculation had placed all our scenery 
and wardrobe in jeopardy. I agreed to go back with 
him and play for his benefit, taking with me our singer, 
a very pleasant fellow, of the name of West. 

" On crossing the ferry we bought a quantity of 
prawns, which we agreed to reserve for a snack at an 
inn, where Jefferson said there was some of the finest 
ale in the country. West and myself, however, could not 
resist our propensities towards a dozen of the prawns, 
which, lying at the top, happened to be the largest, in 
the manner of pottled strawberries, to cover a hundred • 
small ones. Coming to a hill, West and I jumped out 
of the coach, leaving Jefferson to take care of the fish. 
We had just reached the summit when we heard a great 
bawling behind us, and looking round perceived the 
coach standing still at the foot of the ascent, and Jef- 
ferson leaning out of the window and waving his hand. 
Imagining some accident had happened, down we both 
ran, at our utmost speed, and inquired the matter. Jef- 
ferson held up the handkerchief of diminutive prawns 
to our view, and replied, 'I wished to know if you 
wouldn't like a few of the large oiks.' There was so 
much pleasantry in this reproof that we could only look 
in each other's face, laugh, and toil up the hill again." 



JEFFERSON THE FIRST. 37 

Ryley's " Itinerant " * gives a couple of anecdotes of, 
old Thomas Jefferson which here will not be misplaced : 
"Tom Blanchard came to play a few nights, and with 
him Jefferson of Exeter. During their stay we received 
an invitation to perform "The School for Scandal " and 
"An Agreeable Surprise," at Torr Abbey, on some 
grand public occasion which now slips my memory. 
Three chaises conveyed the major part of the com- 
pany. Jefferson rode his own horse, and I walked, with 
my dogs and gun. During the journey, we thought of 
nothing but British hospitality and good cheer. Rich 
wines and fat venison were descanted upon with epicu- 
rean volubility : when, behold, we were shown into a 
cold, comfortless servants' hall, with a stone floor. Jef- 
ferson, who was a martyr to the gout, looked around 
him with disgust ; and when the servant unfeelingly in- 
quired whether we chose any dinner, he replied : ' Tell 
your master, friend, that after his death he had better 
have a bad epitaph than the players' ill report while he 
lives.' So saying he remounted his horse, and left 
us to do the play as well as we- could without him." 
This rebuke had a good effect, for the butler soon made 
his appearance with an apology, and the players re- 
ceived courteous entertainment during their stay at Torr 
Abbey. 

Another anecdote, told by Ryley, has been illustrated 

* Samuel William Rylev, born 1755, died 1837. — He wrote 
a musical farce, called " The Civilian, or Farmer Turned Footman " 
(1792), a comic opera on the subject of Smollett's novel of "Rod- 
erick Random" (1793), an d a monologue entertainment entitled u New 
Brooms," which contains a number of songs. " The Itinerant, or Gen- 
uine Memoirs of an Actor," was published in 1S08. — \Y. W. 



38 THE JEFFERSONS. 

with an etching by Cruickshank, published in "The 
Humorist " : " The last night of Jefferson's engage- 
ment, he played Ha??ilet, for his own benefit ; and Tom 
Blanchard, ever accommodating, agreed to double 
Gnilde7istem with the Grave- Digger. When Hamlet 
called for ' the recorders/ Blanchard, who delighted 
in a joke, instead of a flute brought on a bassoon used 
in the orchestra. Jefferson, after composing his coun- 
tenance, which the sight of this instrument had con- 
siderably discomposed, went on with the scene : — 

" H. Will you play upon this pipe ? 

" G. My lord, I cannot. 

" H. I pray you. 

" G. Believe me, I cannot. 

" H I do beseech you. 

" G. Well, my lord, since you are so very pressing, 
I will do my best. 

"Tom, who was a good musician, immediately struck 
up ' Lady Coventry's Minuet,' and went through the 
whole strain — which finished the scene ; for Hamlet 
had not another word to say for himself." 

Bernard speaks of Benjamin Haydon, father of the 
painter,* as a resident of Plymouth, in those old days, 

* Benjamin Robert Haydon, born 1786, died 1846. — Bernard, 
when at Plymouth, often dined with the elder Haydon, and he relates 
this anecdote of the younger : " His son, the present artist of celebrity, 
a spirited, intelligent little fellow about ten years of age, used to listen 
to my songs, and laugh heartily at my jokes, whenever I dined at his 
father's. One evening I was playing Sharp, in " The Lying Valet," when 
he and my friend Benjamin were in the stage-box ; and, on my repeating 
the words, '1 have had nothing to eat, since last Monday was a fort- 
night/ little Haydon exclaimed, in a tone audible to the whole house, 
' What a whopper ! Why, you dined at my father's house this after- 



JEFFERSON THE FIRST. 39 

and as his friend and agent. Mr. Haydon was in the 
habit of meeting Jefferson and Wolfe, and consulting 
with them on the business of the theatre, and regularly 
communicating with Bernard in London. 

The old theatrical chronicles are not very communi- 
cative with reference to Jefferson, and hence it is not 
possible to embellish this narrative with many incidents 
of his career or many traits of his character. His life 
seems to have been simple, unostentatious, industrious, 
and kindly ; but, although he was well known, he never 
occupied a place of great prominence in the public eye 
or in the records of his time. It was a time, in theat- 
rical annals, of varied and brilliant activity. The old 
story — so often told — of Garrick's sudden dethrone- 
ment of the classic style of acting, makes its background. 
It was the time of Woffington, Weston, Foote, Mack- 
lin, Henderson, Bellamy, King, Mossop, Shuter, Wood- 
ward, Yates, Mrs. Pritchard, and Barry. Cibber, with 
the traditions of the age of Queen Anne, was just pass- 
ing from the scene, while Quin,* with his Roman dig- 
noon.' It was on this occasion, I believe, Mr. B. R. Haydon first at- 
tracted the notice of the public." — "The Lying Valet" is a comedy 
by David Garrick, first produced at Goodman's Fields Theatre, in 174 1, 
and afterwards acted at Drury Lane. — W. W. 

* James Quin, 1693-1766.— The greatest Falstaff 'of the 18th cen- 
tury, and a man of sturdy intellect, imperious character, and superb wit. 
" I can only recommend a man who wants to .see a character perfectly 
played to see Quin in Falstaff" — Foote. " His sentiments, though hid 
under the rough manner he had assumed, would have done honor to 
Cato." — George Anne Bellamy. One of his intimates was James 
Thomson, the poet, who wrote of him as follows, in " The Castle of 
Indolence," Canto I., stanza 67 : — 

" Here whilom lagged the Esopus of the age : 
But called by fame, in soul ypricked deep, 



40 THE JEFFERSONS. 

nity and pompous declamation, was soon to follow. 
Sheridan was writing his comedies, and the younger 
Colman was growing up to rival him. It was the time, 
in literature, of Cowper, Burns, Goldsmith, Gray, and 
Johnson. Burke was treading the stately heights of 
oratory, and the terrible Earl of Chatham was swaying 
the rod of empire. To Jefferson must have come, as 
mere news of the day, the whole thrilling story of Clive's 
exploits in India, and the strange and startling tale of 
Washington's audacious and successful rebellion in Amer- 
ica. He could have heard, as an incident of the hour, 
of the suicide of Thomas Chatterton, in Brook Street, 
Holborn, and he might have seen the burial of David 
Garrick and of Samuel Johnson, in Westminster Abbey. 
The glorious death of Wolfe, on the Plains of Abraham, 
and the splendid historic pageant of the trial of Warren 
Hastings, in Westminster Hall, were among the pass- 
ing occurrences of his day. Some of the greatest men 
of the eighteenth century witnessed his acting, upon the 
London and Dublin stage. It is instructive thus to 
ponder upon the experience of a man, of whom only 
such meagre and fleeting records now remain, but 
whose labors gave pleasure and instruction to more 

A noble pride restored him to the stage, 
And roused him like a giant from his sleep. 
Even from his slumbers we advantage reap : 
With double force the enlivened scene he wakes, 
Vet quits not nature's bounds. He knows to keep 

in. Now the heart he shakes, 
And now with well-urged sense the enlightened judgment takes." 

He was buried in Bath Abbey, where the visitor still reads his epi- 
taph, written by Garrick. — W. W. 



JEFFERSON THE FIRST. 4 1 

than one immortal genius of a noble age. He lived 
till close on the beginning of the regency of George 
the Fourth,* and passed away just as the new forces of 
Scott, Byron, Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Shelley, were 
making a new era in human thought. 

One of the strongest impressions derived from re- 
search into this actor's history is the impression of his 
heedless amiability, and his quiet, droll humor. He 
was scrupulously honest, but he had no economy. The 
will of the once famous Tom Weston, f the great low 
comedian, who almost rivalled Garrick in Abel Drug- 
ger, and for whom Foote wrote the character of Jerry 
Sneak, contains this clause : " Item. I have played 
under the management of Mr. Jefferson, at Rich- 
mond, and received from him every politeness. I 

* The English historic period covered by this biography of the Jef- 
fersons is as follows : — 

George II 1727-1760. 

George III 1760-1820. 

George, Prince of Wales, 

as Regent i8ri-i82o. 

George IV 1820-1830. 

William IV. 1830- [S3 7. 

Victoria i$>37, whom God preserve. 

— W. W. 

f Thomas Weston, born 1727, died 1776. — He was a son of the 
chief cook to George the Second. After a wild and roving youth he be- 
came an actor, and was in Garrick's company at Drury Lane, and with 
Foote at the old Haymarket. His excellence was shown in such parts 
as Scrub, Drugger, and Jerry Sneak. He seems personally to have 
been a compound of Charles Surface and Dick Swiveller. He was 
merry, comic, improvident, charming, and too fond of the bottle for his 
own good. An interesting sketch of him will he found in John Gait's 
" Lives of the Players," Vol. I., p. 232. — W. W. 



42 THE JEFFERSONS. 

therefore leave him all my stock of prudence, it being 
the only good quality I think he stands in need of." 
He had that fondness for a joke which, to this day, re- 
mains the delightful characteristic of his tribe. " I 
acted Bayes, at Exeter," says Tate Wilkinson, "and 
spoke a speech or two in the manner of old Andrew 
Brice (a printer of that city, and an eccentric genius). 
It struck the whole audience like electricity. Mr. Jef- 
ferson, who performed Johnson, was so taken by sur- 
prise that he could not proceed for laughter." And on 
another page of Wilkinson's Memoirs the reader sees 
Jefferson, in the full tide of innocent, sportive mischief, 
demurely making game of the pompous and truculent 
Henry Mossop, — a man with no fun in his nature and 
no sense of humor, and therefore the obvious prey of 
the joker. Both were members, at this time, of the 
Theatre Royal, Dublin : " Jefferson, who loved a lit- 
tle mischief, said to Mossop one day, ' Sir, I was last 
night at Crow Street, where Wilkinson, in " Tragedy a- 
la-Mode " and in Bayes, had taken very great liberties 
indeed,' and added that the audience were ill-natured 
enough to be highly entertained ; on which Mossop 
snuffed the air, put his hand on his sword, and, turning 
upon his heel, replied, ' Yes, sir ; but he only takes me off 
a little,' and made his angry departure. After which Jef- 
ferson never again renewed the subject ; but was aston- 
ished, after his repeated and open threats of vengeance, 
he had not acted more consistently. And after the said 
Jefferson's telling me that circumstance, I never heard 
more of Mr. Mossop's sword, pistol, or anger." {Me- 
moirs, Vol. 3, p. 193.) Mossop had previously, in an 



JEFFERSON THE FIRST. 43 

exceedingly comic interview with Wilkinson, in the 
street, threatened him with personal violence. " ' Sir,' 
said Mossop, 'you are going to play in Crow Street 
Theatre with Barry, sir, and, sir, I will run you through 
the body, sir, if you take the liberty to attempt my 
manner by any mimicry on the stage. You must prom- 
ise me, sir, on your honor, you will not dare attempt it. 
If you break that promise, sir, you cannot live ; and 
you, Mr. Wil-kin-son, must die, as you must meet me 
the next day, and I shall kill you, sir.' I told him it 
was impossible to comply with that his mandate." 

A reference to Jefferson the First, which interests 
theatrical inquirers, as showing how near, for the second 
time, this name was to premature extinction, occurs in 
a sketch of the life of Theophilus Cibber, published in 
the "Biographia Dramatica." This was the profligate 
son of Colley Cibber, the poet-laureate, and he was 
drowned in 1758 (aged fifty-five) on the voyage to Ire- 
land. It is in recording this catastrophe that the " Bi- 
ographia" makes allusion to Jefferson : — 

" Mr. Cibber embarked at Parkgate (together with 
Mr. Maddox, the celebrated wire-dancer, who had also 
been engaged as an auxiliary to the same theatre *), on 
board the Dublin trader, some time in the month of Oc- 
tober ; but the high winds which are frequent at that 
time of the year in St. George's Channel, and which are 
fatal to many vessels in the passage from this kingdom 
to Ireland, proved particularly so to this. The vessel 

* The Theatre Royal, Dublin, managed by Thomas Sheri- 
dan, who was much pressed, that year, by the opposition of the theatre 
in Crow Street. Indeed, it quite ruined him there. — W. W. 



44 THE JEFFERSONS. 

was driven to the coast of Scotland, where it was cast 
away, every soul in it (and the passengers were ex- 
tremely numerous) perishing in the waves, and the ship 
itself so entirely lost that scarcely any vestige of it re- 
mained to indicate where it had been wrecked, except- 
ing a box containing books and papers which were 
known to be Mr. Cibber's, and which were cast up on 
the western coast of Scotland. [So said Mr. Baker,* 
but this was a mistake ; for we have since found that 
in this ship in which Theoph. Cibber, Maddox, and 
others perished, Mr. and Mrs. Jefferson, Mr. Arthur 
and family, Mrs. Chambers, and some others were 
passengers, and, by leaping into a small boat, were 
saved. "] 

A peculiarity in Thomas Jefferson's character, and a 
singular incident in his experience, are thus stated by 
his grand-daughter, Elizabeth Jefferson, in a letter to 
the present biographer of her family : " My grand- 
father had a great aversion to litigation and lawyers. 
I remember having been told of an instance of this. 
He had paid a large sum of money to a creditor, but 
had mislaid the receipt ; and it happened that in time 
this same bill was again presented for payment. He 
explained and protested, but his creditor was positive, 
and finally my grandfather was sent to jail. My father 
voluntarily went there, along with him to take care of 

* David Erskine Bakkk, who projected and began the Hiogra- 
phia, bringing the record to 1764. Isaac Reed, F. A. S., subsequently 
continued this useful chronicle to 1782, and Stephen Jones brought 
it onward to 1 81 1. The writer who shall extend it to the present day 
will render a great service. — W. \V. 



JEFFERSON THE FIRST. 45 

him, and for a whole year they endured imprisonment. 
At last the missing receipt was found, and their prison 
doors were opened. My grandfather was now urged 
to bring an action for damages, and, doubtless, he 
might, have recovered a large sum ; but his invincible 
repugnance to litigation restrained him, and he reso- 
lutely refused to proceed, being content with his liberty 
and with the contrite apology offered by his hard cred- 
itor. My father's devotion to him was never forgotten ; 
nor — by his step-mother — ever forgiven." 

Jefferson the First died at Ripon, January 24, 1807. 
The contemporary records of the event are meagre, and 
they offer a strong contrast to the kind of chronicle 
which now-a-days is made of the death of a distin- 
guished man. The Gentleman' 's Magazine for March, 
1807, presents, for example, the subjoined obituary no- 
tice : " Died. — At Ripon, County of York, while on a 
visit to a daughter, Mr. Jefferson, comedian, — the 
friend, contemporary, and exact prototype of the im- 
mortal Garrick. He had resided many years at Plym- 
outh ; and as often as his age and infirmities permitted 
he appeared on that stage in characters adapted to 
lameness and decay, and performed them admirably, 
particularly at his last benefit, when he personated Lu- 
signan and Lord Chalkstone. We know not whether 
Mr. Hull or Mr. Jefferson was the father of the British 
stage ; they were both of nearly an equal standing. To 
the Theatrical Fund,* of which the former is founder 

* The Theatrical Fund of London was instituted at Covent Gar- 
den Theatre, December 22d, 1765, and confirmed by act of Parliament in 
1 766. It still exists. The idea of it was suggested by Mr. George Mat- 



46 THE JEFFERSONS. 

and treasurer, the latter owed the chief support of his 
old age." A passing reference to the same bereave- 
ment is made as follows in the " Annual Register " for 
1807 : "Mr. Jefferson was on a visit to a daughter, 
who is settled in Yorkshire, when death closed the last 
scenes of this honest, pleasant, much esteemed man." 

This chapter of notices of the life of Thomas Jeffer- 
son cannot better be concluded than with these sugges- 
tive reflections made by Mr. James Smith, of Melbourne, 
a diligent and appreciative student of theatrical history, 
and one of the most sprightly and ingenious writers of 
the Australian world. "What times to have lived in," 
this moralist exclaims, " and what men and women to 
have known ! He saw Old Drury in the height of its 
glory, and Garrick in the zenith of his renown. He 
flirted with Kitty Clive, and supped with Fanny Abington. 

tocks ; the plan was carried into practical effect by Thomas Hull. In 
the churchyard of St. Margaret's, a few yards from the north porch of 
Westminster Abbey, may be read on a gravestone this inscription, — the 
lines by John Taylor : — 

Also to the Memory of 

Thomas Hull, Esq., 

Late of the 

Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, 

who departed this life 

April 22d, 1808, 

In the 79th year of his age. 

Hull, long respected in the scenic art, 

On this world's stage sustained a virtuous part ; 

And some memorial of his zeal to shew 

For his loved Art, and shelter age from woe, 

Founded that noble Fund which guards his name, 

Embalmed by Gratitude, enshrined by Fame. 

— w. vv. 



JEFFERSON THE FIRST. 47 

He listened to the silver tones of Spranger Barry, and was 
melted by the pathos of Susanna Cibber. He chuckled 
at the sight of Sam Foote mimicking Mr. Aprice, and 
of Tate Wilkinson mimicking Sam Foote. He saw 
the curtain rise before an audience that included Lord 
Chancellor Camden and Lord Chief Justice Mansfield, 
William Hogarth and Charles Churchill, Edmund Burke 
and Edward Gibbon. He heard Goldsmith's child-like 
laugh, and Dr. Johnson's gruff applause. He saw the 
courtly sarcasm sparkle in Horace Walpole's eyes, and 
the jest quivering on Selwyn's lip. He recognized the 
quaint figure of Sir Joshua Reynolds in the boxes, and 
the brilliant, homely face of Thomas Gainsborough in 
the pit. And, above all, he trod the same stage with 
the English Roscius, and was privileged to watch every 
movement of that marvellous face. This was, indeed, 
an uncommon and a happy fate ! What pleasant hours 
he must have spent with Garrick at Hampton, and what 
a fund of anecdote he must have accumulated with 
which, in his age, to charm his cronies at Plymouth ! 
He had seen King carry the town by storm as Lord 
Ogleby in 'The Clandestine Marriage,' and Garrick 
take his farewell of the stage. He could recall the airy 
flutter of Dodd, the rollicking Irish humor of Moody, 
the well-bred ease of Palmer, the eloquent by-play of 
Parsons, the versatility of Bannister, the strong, melo- 
dious voice of Holland, the ardor of Powell, the whim- 
sical drollery of Reddish, Mossop's harmonious delivery, 
and Macklin's rumbling growl. He had seen the Ab- 
ingtons, the Baddeleys, the Cibbers, the Clives, and the 
whole splendid phalanx of the Garrick dynasty, pass 



48 THE JEFFERSONS. 

from the scene ; and he had lived to view the rise of the 
Kembles, and to hear the thrilling accents of Mrs. Sid- 
dons, and the sweet, bubbling laugh of Dora Jordan. 
What reminiscences might have been written by Jeffer- 
son the First ! " 

Note. — The character of Lord Chalkstone occurs in Gar- 
rick's farce of "Lethe," first produced at Drury Lane, in 1748. 
It had been presented three years earlier, in a different form, 
at Goodman's Fields Theatre, under the title of " yEsop in the 
Shades." Garrick himself was the original Lord Chalkstone. — 
Tate Wilkinson was born October 27th, 1739, and died De- 
cember 1st, 1803. — The play-bill, of which a fac-simile appears 
above, bears the MS. date of 17 51 ; but Foote, whose name oc- 
curs in it, was absent from England from 1749 to 1752. The 
true date, probably, is 1753. — The "Covent Garden horses," 
mentioned by Mrs". Abington, were a number of actual steeds, 
exhibited at that theatre, in 181 1, in processions, in "Blue 
Beard " and " The Forty Thieves." Sheridan referred to them 
in this couplet : — 

" How arts improve in this degenerate age ! 
Peers mount the box, and horses tread the stage!" 

The cost of conducting a theatre was much less, a hundred 
years ago, than it is now. The salaries paid to actors were 
smaller. Spranger Barry and his wife received, at Drury Lane, 
i' 1 l 77^ £s° a week — for the two. Lacy was paid ^16 ly. 
Garrick received ^34 y. The total payment for a week 
amounted to ^522 js 6d. These figures are from Notes and 
Queries. Dunlap states his total expenses, at the N. Y. Park, 
in the season of 1798-99 at less than $1,200 a week. — W. W. 



JEFFERSON THE SECOND. 
1774- 1832. 



' Noble he was, contemning all things mean, 
His truth unquestioned and his soul serene. 
■ Shame knew him not, he dreaded no disgrace, 
Truth, simple truth, was written in his face; 
Yet, while the serious thought his soul approved, 
Cheerful he seemed and gentleness he loved ; 
To Hiss domestic he his heart resigned, 
And with the firmest had the fondest mind. 
Were others joy fid, he looked smiling on, 
And gave allowance where he needed none. 
Good he refused with future ill to buy, 
Nor knew a joy that caused reflections sigh. 
A friend to virtue, his unclouded breast 
No envy stung, no jealoitsy distressed ; 
Yet far was he from stoic pride removed, — 
He felt humanely, and he warmly loved." — CrABBE. 



JEFFERSON THE SECOND. 



Joseph Jefferson, the second of this family of actors, 
and one of the most honorably distinguished perform- 
ers that have graced the theatre, was born at Plymouth, 
England, in 1 7 74. His early education was conducted 
with care, and he received, under the guidance of his 
parents, a careful training for the stage. While yet a 
lad he acted in the Plymouth Theatre, — after Bernard 
had become associated with his father and Mr. Wolfe 
in its management. His youth, so far as can be judged 
from the little that is known of it, was commendable 
for patience, industry, and filial devotion. He appears 
to have matured early, and to have been capable of far- 
sighted views and the steady pursuit of a definite pur- 
pose in life. He did not find his home comfortable 
after his father's second (or third) marriage, and also 
he sympathized with the republican tone of feeling, 
which at that disturbed period — intervening between 
the revolt of the British colonies in America and the 
great and terrible French Revolution — was, to some 
extent, rife in England. Thus he had two causes of 
discontent ; and these, operating together, finally im- 
pelled him to emigrate to America. The opportunity 
was afforded by C» S. Powell, of Boston, who had come 
to England, in 1793, to enlist actors for the new thea- 



52 THE JEFFERSONS. 

tre in that city, and with his aid the way for the young 
adventurer was soon made clear. Powell agreed to pay 
the passage money, and a salary of $17 a week. Jef- 
ferson came over in 1795, an d from that time forward 
his lot was cast with the people of this land. He never 
returned to England. His American career lasted 
thirty-seven years, and of him truly it may be said that 
he deserved and received every mark of honor that the 
respect and affection of the community could bestow 
upon genius and virtue. His character was impressive, 
and at the same time winning. His life was pure. His 
professional exertions were well directed, and for a long 
time his name retained a brilliant prestige. Domestic 
afflictions and waning popularity, indeed, overshadowed 
his latter days ; but, when we remember this, we must 
also remember that the fifth act of life's drama can 
never be otherwise than sad, and that this actor, before 
it came, had enjoyed, in ample abundance, the sunshine 
of prosperity. 

Charles Stuart Powell, under contract to whom Jef- 
ferson came to America, was the first manager of the 
Boston Theatre, in Federal Street, which he opened on 
February 3d, 1794 ; but sixteen months of bad business 
sufficed to make the manager a bankrupt, and on June 
19th, 1795, ne c l° se d his season and left the theatre ; so 
that Jefferson, when he reached Boston, found the 
house in stranger hands, and ascertained that his ser- 
vices were not wanted. The new manager, however, 
had engaged the company of Hodgkinson and Hallam, 
from the John Street Theatre, in New York, which acted 
at the Boston Theatre, from November 2d, 1 795, till 



SB 



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JEFFERSON THE SECOND. 53 

January 20th, 1796 ; and with those players — and es- 
pecially with Hodgkinson — Jefferson seems to have 
formed an early acquaintance and alliance. There is a 
dubious tradition that Hodgkinson and Hallam, before 
their return to New York on this occasion, gave per- 
formances at one or two intermediate towns, and that 
Jefferson, who had accepted employment with them as 
scene painter, on condition that he might have one 
night for a trial appearance, came out as La Gloire, in 
Colman's play of " The Surrender of Calais," at one of 
these places, and made so brilliant a hit that Hodgkin- 
son at once engaged him for the John Street Theatre. 
But the historic record of his first important appear- 
ance * in America assigns it to that theatre, in New 
York, on February 10th, 1796, when he came forward 
as Squire Richa?'d, in " The Provoked Husband." 
This was the opening night of the season, and Mr. and 
Mrs. Johnson, Mr. and Mrs. Tyler, and Mrs. Brett — 
all from England — were also then seen for the first 
time in the American capital. William Dunlap, the au- 

* Jefferson in Boston. — Reference to the advertisements in the 
"Columbian Centinel " (1795) elicits the information that, on December 
21st that year, " Macbeth " was acted at the Federal, with " Mr. Jeffer- 
son " as one of the witches ; that, on December 23d, " The Tempest" 
was given, with " Mr. Jefferson " in a minor character ; and that on De- 
cember 28th, for the benefit of M. de Blois, " Mr. Jefferson " appeared, 
and sang the comic song of "John Bull's a Bumpkin." Mr. W. W. 
Clapp, whose careful and thorough record of "The Boston Stage" is 
of permanent value to theatrical inquirers, apprises the writer that no 
particular mention of the name of Jefferson occurs in any of the pa- 
pers that he consulted in making his chronicle of that time ; while the 
only Jeffersons mentioned in his book are of the fourth generation. 
— W. W. 



54 THE JEFFERSONS. 

thor of the " History of the American Theatre " (to 
about 1 812), witnessed this performance, and has left 
this mention of Jefferson : " He was then a youth, but 
even then an artist. Of a small and light figure, well 
formed, with a singular physiognomy, a nose perfectly 
Grecian, and blue eyes full of laughter, he had the fac- 
ulty of exciting mirth to as great a degree, by power of 
feature, although handsome, as any ugly-featured low 
comedian ever seen. The Squire Richard of Mr. Jef- 
ferson made a strong impression on the writer. His 
Sadi, in ' The Mountaineers,' a stronger ; and, strange 
to say, his Verges, in ' Much Ado About Nothing,' a 
yet stronger." 

Among the references made to Jefferson's career in 
New York is the following, embodied in an anecdote 
told by Dunlap respecting the debut of Mr. John D. 
Miller, the son of a baker, who came forth as Clement, 
in "The Deserted Daughter " : — 

" Miller's d£but is fresh in our recollection, as con- 
nected with the admirable acting of Jefferson, in the 
character of Item, the attorney, whose clerk Miller rep- 
resented. Worked up to a phrensy of feigned passion, 
Jefferson, a small-sized man, seized Miller by the breast, 
and, while uttering the language of rage, shook him vi- 
olently. Miller, not aware that he was to be treated so 
roughly, was at first astonished ; but as Jefferson con- 
tinued shaking, and the audience laughing, the young 
baker's blood boiled, and calling on his physical ener- 
gies, he seized the comedian with an Herculean grasp, 
and violently threw him off. Certainly Miller never 
played with so much spirit or nature on any subsequent 



JEFFERSON THE SECOND. 55 

occasion. This may remind the reader of John Kem- 
ble's regret at the death of Suett, the low comedian, 
who played Weasel, to Kemble's Penruddock (in ' The 
Wheel of Fortune ; " comedy, by Richard Cumber- 
land ; Drury Lane, 1795.) The lament of the trage- 
dian is characteristic, as told by Kelly : ' My dear 
Mic, Penruddock has lost a powerful ally in Suett. Sir, 
I have acted the part with many Weasels, and good 
ones too, but none of them could work up my passions 
to the pitch Suett did. He had a comic, impertinent 
way of thrusting his head into my face, which called 
forth all my irritable sensations. The effect upon me 
was irresistible.' Such was the effect of Jefferson's 
shaking upon Miller, and Jefferson found the Yankee's 
arm equally irresistible." 

The old John Street Theatre — first opened on De- 
cember 7th, 1767, and finally closed January 13th, 
1798 — was the precursor of the old Park. Jefferson 
remained connected with it for nearly two years, and 
when it closed he transferred his services to " The New 
Theatre," as the Park was at first styled, which was 
opened on January 29th, 1798, under Dunlap's man- 
agement. He received a salary of $23 a week, which,, 
in the next season, was increased to $25. Hallam and 
Cooper, in the same company, received $25 each. 
The highest salary paid in Dunlap's list was $37, to 
Mrs. Oldmixon. The manager's main-stay in tragedy 
was Cooper, and in low comedy was Jefferson. 

On his first arrival in New York, Jefferson had found 
a lodging in the home of Mrs. Fortune, in John Street, 
adjoining the theatre. This lady, whose ashes, together 



$6 THE JEFFERSONS. 

with those of her husband, now rest in the churchyard 
of old St. Paul's, at the corner of Broadway and Vesey 
Street, was the widow of a Scotch merchant, and she 
had two daughters, who were residing with her at this 
time. One of these girls, Euphemia, soon became 
the wife of Jefferson. The other, Esther, some years 
later, married William Warren — being his second wife — 
and in this way the families of Jefferson and Warren, 
both so highly distinguished on our stage, were allied. 
Warren,* born at Bath, England, in 1 767, had acted un- 
der the management of Jefferson the First, and now, ar- 
riving in America in 1796, he was destined to become, 
ten years later, the brother-in-law of Jefferson the Sec- 
ond. His son, William Warren, born of this marriage (in 
18 1 2), is the admirable comedian so long a favorite and 
so much honored and beloved in Boston. Mrs. Jeffer- 
son made her first appearance on the stage, December 

* William Warren, after the wreck of his fortunes at the Chest- 
nut Street Theatre, rapidly declined in strength and spirits, and soon 
died. His death occurred at Baltimore, on October 19th, 1832. His age 
was sixty-five. Five of his children became members of the stage : 
I. Hester, first Mrs. Willis, afterwards Mrs. Proctor, died in Boston, 
Mass., in 1842. II. Anna, who became the wife of the celebrated com- 
edian, Danford Marble, and died in Cincinnati, March nth, 1872. 
111. Emma, first Mrs. Price, afterwards Mrs. Hanchett ; died in New 
York, in May, 1879. IV. Mary Ann, who married John B. Rice, 
afterward mayor of Chicago, and always throughout his life, one of the 
best and most honored and beloved of men. She retired from the stage 
in 1856, and is still living in Chicago, a widow. V. William Warren, 
of Boston, the renowned comedian. He was born at Philadelphia, No- 
vember 17th, 1812; early adopted the stage, and rapidly rose to emi- 
nence; made his first appearance in Boston, October 5th, 1846, at the 
Howard Athenaeum, acting Sir Lucius O" 1 Trigger, in " The Rivals," 
and ever since has been closely identified with the Boston stage. Far 
distant be the day that takes him from us ! — W. W. 



JEFFERSON THE SECOND. 57 

2 2d, 1800, at the Park, as Louisa Dudley, in " The 
West Indian." She was then twenty- four years old. 
She subsequently removed, with her husband, to Phila- 
delphia, where she was long an ornament to the stage 
and society. She died in January, 183 1, at the age of 
fifty- six. 

Jefferson's career at the Park Theatre extended 
through five regular seasons, ending in the spring of 
1803. Its current can be traced, by the patient inqui- 
rer, in the useful, reminiscent pages of Dunlap. One of 
Jefferson's first hits was made as Peter, in " The Stran- 
ger," which was performed for the first time in America 
in December, 1798, at the Park. Dunlap had got pos- 
session of a sketch of the plot, together with a portion 
of the dialogue of Kotzebue's play, then successful in 
London, as rearranged by Sheridan for Drury Lane, and 
he promptly wrote a piece upon the basis of these 
materials, telling no one but Cooper his secret, and 
this was produced anonymously, with the following 
cast : — 

The Stranger Mr. Cooper. 

Francis Mr. Martin. 

Baron Steinfort Mr. Barrett. 

Solomon Mr. Bates. 

Peter Mr. Jefferson. 

Mrs. Haller Mrs. Barrett. 

Chambermaid Mrs. Seymour. 

Baroness Steinfort Mrs. Hallam. 

Cooper, it appears, produced a great effect ; Mrs. 
Barrett was powerful and touching; Martin was cor- 
rect; and Bates and Jefferson pleased the lovers of 



58 THE JEFFERSONS. 

farce, — " for such the comic portion of the play liter- 
ally was." " The Stranger " insured the success of the 
entire season, and the manager was so much pleased 
that he immediately studied and learned the German 
language, and thereupon opened upon the Park stage a 
perfect sluice of the sentimental rubbish of Kotzebue. 
The actors sneered at it as "wretched Dutch stuff," 
and well they might ; yet, for a time, it was almost as 
epidemic as the yellow-fever, which in those days dev- 
astated, at intervals, the whole Atlantic coast. 

Many other bad low-comedy parts and old men fell 
to Jefferson during his five years at the Park. He 
played them all, however, in the most conscientious 
and thorough manner. As La Fleur, in Dunlap's op- 
era of " Sterne's Maria," a singing part, he acquitted 
himself with especial brilliancy. Mrs. Oldmixon, Miss 
Westray, Mrs. Seymour, Cooper, Tyler, young Hallam, 
and Hogg were in the cast. The ladies were all sing- 
ers, but only Jefferson and Tyler among the males 
could sing. Another of his admirable delineations was 
that of Jack Bowline, the rough old Boatswain, in an 
adaptation from Kotzebue, with the engaging title of 
" Fraternal Discord." Hodgkinson, who had joined 
the Park company in the autumn of 1 799, enacted Cap- 
tain Bertram, a gouty mariner, in this work, and was 
accounted wonderfully fine in it. The two comedi- 
ans seem to have been well matched, but Hodgkinson 
was the better of the two. "Jefferson's excellence," 
writes Dunlap, " was great, but not to be put in com- 
petition with Hodgkinson's, even in low comedy." 

John Hodgkinson, thus extolled, seems indeed, to 



JEFFERSON THE SECOND. 59 

have been the prince of all actors in that period. He 
was born at Manchester, England, in 1 76 7, being the 
son of an inn-keeper named Meadowcraft. In youth 
he was bound an apprentice to a trade, but he ran 
away from home, adopted the name of Hodgkinson, 
and went on the stage, and his prodigious talents soon 
raised him to a position of importance. He was early 
joined to Mrs. Munden, whom it is said he had alien- 
ated from the famous comedian (Joseph Shepherd Mun- 
den, 1 758-1832), and subsequently to Miss Brett, of the 
Bath Theatre, whom, however, he did not wed till after 
they both had come to America. That was in Septem- 
ber, 1792 — Hallam's partner, Henry, having found 
them at the Bath Theatre, and engaged them for this 
country. Hodgkinson's first American appearance was 
made in Philadelphia, as Belcour, in " The West In- 
dian," and on January 28th, 1793, he came out at the 
John Street Theatre, New York, as Vapid, in "The 
Dramatist," — that comedy, by Frederic Reynolds, 
first acted in 1789 at Covent Garden, which has been 
characterized as the precursor of " the numerous family 
by which genteel and sprightly comedians have been 
converted into speaking harlequins." He was one of 
the managers of the J'olin Street Theatre, from 1794 to 
1798, and he acted in the principal cities all along the 
Atlantic seaboard from Boston to Charleston, and was 
everywhere a favorite. He died very suddenly of yel- 
low-fever, in the neighborhood of Washington, Septem- 
ber 1 2th, 1805, aged thirty-eight years. Hodgkinson's 
life was sullied by many wrong actions. He was a lib- 
ertine, and he lacked probity of character. His last 



60 THE JEFFERSONS. 

hours were very wretched. " He was in continual agi- 
tation," we are told, " from pain and excessive terror of 
death, and presented the most horrid spectacle that the 
mind can imagine. He was, as soon as dead, wrapped 
in a blanket and carried to the burying-field by ne- 
groes." So, prematurely and miserably, a great light 
was put out. 

Bernard, in his " Early Days of the American Stage," 
pays this tribute to the memory of this great actor : 
" When I associate Hodgkinson with Garrick and 
Henderson (the first of whom I had often seen, and 
the latter had played with), I afford some ground 
for thinking he possessed no common claims. . . . 
Hodgkinson was a wonder. In the whole range of the 
living drama there was no variety of character he could 
not perceive and embody, from a Richa?'d or a Hamlet 
down to a Shclty or a Sharp. To the abundant mind 
of Shakespeare his own turned as a moon that could 
catch and reflect a large amount of its radiance ; and if, 
like his great precursors, it seemed to have less of the 
poetic element than of the riches of humor, this was 
owing to association, which, in the midst of his tragic 
passions, would intrude other images. An exclusive 
tragedian will always seem greater by virtue of his 
specialty, by the singleness of impressions which are 
simply poetic. Hodgkinson had one gift that en- 
larged Ins variety beyond all competition ; he . was 
also a singer, and could charm you in a burletta after 
thrilling you in a play : so that through every form of 
the drama he was qualified to pass, and it might be 
said he 'exhausted worlds,' if he could not 'invent 



JEFFERSON THE SECOND. 6 1 

new.' I doubt if such a number and such greatness 
of requisites were ever before united in one mortal 
man. Nor were his physical powers inferior to his 
mental j he was tall and well-proportioned, though in- 
clining to be corpulent, with a face of great mobility, 
that showed the minutest change of feeling, whilst his 
voice, full and flexible, could only be likened to an in- 
strument that his passions played upon at pleasure." 

Jefferson is also encountered at this time as Kudrin 
in " Count Benyowski," the Fool in "The Italian Father," 
John in " False Shame," and Michelli in Holcroft's 
"Tale of Mystery." In the summer seasons of 1800 
and 1 80 1, while the Park Theatre remained closed, 
Jefferson and his wife acted at Joseph Corre's " Mount 
Vernon Gardens," situated on the spot which is now 
the north-west corner of Leonard Street and Broadway. 
That theatre was opened July 9th, 1800, with " Miss in 
Her Teens, or the Medley of Lovers," and Jefferson 
acted Captain Flash. In the regular seasons at the 
Park, which rarely opened before the middle of Octo- 
ber, Jefferson's professional associates were Mr. and 
Mrs. Hodgkinson, Mr. and Mrs. Hallam, Mr. and Mrs. 
Hogg, Mr. and Mrs. Powell, Mr. and Mrs. Harper, Mr. 
Tyler, Mr. Fox, Mr. Martin, Mr. Hallam, Jr., Mr. 
Crosby, Mrs. Melmoth, Mrs. and Miss Brett, Miss 
Harding, and Miss Hogg. Here, and afterwards at 
the Chestnut, he held his rank with the best of his com- 
petitors ; and, in looking back to those days of the 
stage, it should be remembered that at some seasons it 
would happen that every actor in the company was a 
classical scholar. 



62 THE JEFFERSONS. 

Jefferson's conspicuous hits, even at this early age, 
appear to have been made in old men ; and an anec- 
dote, which he himself related, attests his success. A 
sympathetic but mistaken old lady called one day at the 
John Street Theatre with a subscription list, to entreat 
the managers " to withdraw that poor old Mr. Jefferson 
from the stage." She said she had been to see him 
play in "The Steward,"* — as she had been told it 
was a wonderful performance, — and it had struck her 
that it would be only a Christian charity to remove so 
aged an actor from public life, and to provide for him. 
She had headed her list with a liberal gift, and she was 
now on her way to get additional subscribers, in order 
to provide a quiet and respectable home for the infirm 
actor. Cooper, who was then connected with the the- 
atre, and who chanced to be present, told her, in reply, 
that such a scheme had long been in contemplation, 
and that the manager would gladly co-operate with her 
in any charitable effort to ameliorate the hardships of 
the aged Jefferson's condition. She was delighted. 
Just then Jefferson entered the room, and Cooper 
straightway introduced him to the lady, styling her his 
"kind friend and protector, who had so charitably un- 
dertaken to find him a home." Her amazement at 
seeing a slender, handsome young fellow of six-and- 
twenty, instead of a senile mummy, was excessive. She 
stammered out a word of explanation, and tore her sub- 

* An alteration of " The Deserted Daughter." Comedy. By Thomas 
Molcroft. Covent Garden, 1795. Jefferson acted Grime as well as Item 
in this piece, — of course, on different nights. — W. W. 



JEFFERSON THE SECOND. 63 

scription paper in pieces ; and the scene ended in a 
general laugh. 

The year 1803 brought the turning-point in Jeffer- 
son's life. Theatrical enterprise at this time was about 
equally divided between Philadelphia, New York, and 
Boston. The Chestnut Street Theatre, Philadelphia 
(which city had just ceased (1800) to be the capital of 
the Republic), held the lead. The Park Theatre in New 
York, under Dunlap's management, was second, and 
the Federal Street Theatre in Boston — rebuilt after the 
conflagration of 1798, and now managed by Snelling 
Powell, brother of C. S. Powell — was, for the first time, 
becoming a successful institution. On the New York 
stage, Jefferson must have found himself almost as much 
overshadowed by Hodgkinson, who came and went 
like a comet, as his father had been, on the London 
stage, by Garrick. The opportunity of transition into 
a new field of labor now came to him, and, apparently, 
came at just the right time. Mrs. Wignell, left a widow 
by the sudden and untimely death of the great mana- 
ger, was obliged, in the spring of 1803, to assume the 
direction of the Chestnut Street Theatre, and a pro- 
posal was immediately made to Jefferson to join the 
company there, taking the place of John Bernard, who 
had repaired to Boston. At first he hesitated, being 
reluctant to leave a community where he had been 
much admired, and where he possessed many friends ; 
and also, perhaps, — for he was a man of extreme mod- 
esty, — apprehensive of being compared, to some dis- 
advantage, with his accomplished predecessor. In the 
end, though, he accepted the Philadelphia engagement, 



64 THE JEFFERSONS. 

for his wife as well as himself; and, after a summer 
season of about two months passed at Albany,* he 
finally quitted the New York stage. He was seen at 
the old Park, though, as a visitor, in the spring of 1806, 
when he acted, with splendid ability, the favorite char- 
acters of Jacob Gawky, Jeremy Diddler, Bobby Pe?i- 
dragon, Doctor Lenitive, Toby Allspice, and Ralph ; and 
he came again in 1824, when on August 5th, at the 
Chatham Garden Theatre, he took his farewell of the 
metropolis, acting Sir Benjamin Dove, in " The Broth- 
ers," and Sancho, in " Lover's Quarrels." The story 
of the rest of his life, however, after the year 1803, is 
the story of his association with the Chestnut Street 
Theatre. 

Mrs. Wignell, it should be said in passing, was the 
famous actress first known in London as Anne Brunton. 
This beautiful and brilliant woman, born at Bristol, 
England, in 1770, had made a splendid hit at Covent 
Garden before she was sixteen years old, and she was 
accounted the greatest tragic genius among women, 
since Mrs. Siddons. In 1792 she became the wife of 
Robert Merry, author of the " Delia Crusca " verse, to 
which Mrs. Hannah Cowley, as "Anna Matilda," had 
replied in congenial fustian, and which was excoriated 
by William Gifford in his satires of "The Baviad " and 

* Jefferson in Albany. — Mr. H. P. Phelps, in his compendi- 
ous and useful record of the Albany stage, entitled " Players of a Cen- 
tury," notes that Jefferson was with Dunlap's company from the New 
York Park Theatre, which acted in that city in the Thespian Hotel in 
1803, the season lasting from August 22d till October 27th. He reap- 
peared in Albany June 9th, 1829, acting Dr. Ollapod and Dicky Gossip ; 
but this was in his decadence. — W. \Y. 



JEFFERSON THE SECOND. 6$ 

" Mseviad." Mr. and Mrs. Merry came to America in 
i 796, the lady being then in her twenty- seventh year, 
and under engagement to Wignell for the Philadelphia 
theatre. It is mentioned that the ship in which they 
sailed made the voyage to New York in twenty-one days. 
Wignell himself was a passenger by her, and so was the 
comedian Warren, whom also he had engaged. All 
these persons, surely, would have been amazed could 
they have foreseen the incidents of a not very remote 
future. Merry died in 1798 at Baltimore, and in 1803 
his widow married Wignell. He in turn died suddenly, 
seven weeks after their marriage, and on August 15 th, 
1806, the enterprising widow married Warren. It is 
comical to think of a lady as having actually imported 
three husbands at once. Mrs. Merry-Wignell- Warren 
had a bright career on the American stage, and was 
greatly admired and esteemed. Her death occurred at 
Alexandria, Va., June 28th, 1808, and her tomb is a 
conspicuous object in the old Episcopal churchyard of 
that place. The sister of this lady, Louisa Brunton, was 
seen on the London stage in 1785 as Juliet, and she 
became the Countess of Craven. 

When Jefferson had joined the Chestnut Street The- 
atre the dramatic company was the strongest in Amer- 
ica, and one of the best ever formed. Warren and 
Reinagle were directors, — the former of affairs in gen- 
eral, the latter of the department of music. William 
B. Wood, who had been to England for recruits, was 
the actual stage-manager. The company comprised, 
all told, Warren, Downie, Jefferson, William Francis, 
William Twaits, Francis Blissett, W. B. Wood, Cain, 



66 THE JEFFERSONS. 

Owen Morris, Warrell, Durang, Mestayer, Melbourne, 
Fox, Hardinge, L'Estrange, Usher, Mrs. Wignell, Mrs. 
Oldmixon, Mrs. Shaw, Mrs. Francis, Mrs. Wood (late 
Miss Juliana Westray), Mrs. Solomon, Mrs. Snowden, 
Mrs. Durang, Mrs. Downie, Mrs. Morris, and Miss 
Hunt. The union of powers thus indicated for com- 
edy acting was marvellous. The weight, dignity, and 
rich humor with which Warren could invest such char- 
acters as Old Dornton and Sir Robert Bramble made 
him easily supreme in this line. He held the leader- 
ship, also, in the line of Fa I staff and Sir Toby Belch. 
Blissett's fastidious taste, neat execution, and beautiful 
polish, made him perfection in parts of the Dr. Caius 
and Bagatelle order, which he presented as delicate min- 
iatures. Francis was finely adapted for such boisterous 
old men as Sir Sampson Lege?id and Sir Anthony Ab- 
solute. Jefferson — conscientious and thorough, and 
at the same time brilliant — ranged from Mercutio to 
Dominie Sampson, from Touchstone to Dogberry, and 
from Farmer Ashfield to Maw worm, and was a con- 
summate artist in all. Wood was the Doricourt and 
Don Felix. And Twaits, a wonderful young man, brim- 
ful of genius, seemed formed by nature for all such 
characters as range with Dr. Fangloss, Lingo, Tony 
Lumpkin, or Goldfinch. 

Dunlap justly observes that Twaits was an admirable 
opposite to Jefferson, and his description of this prod- 
igy sharpens the point of his apt remark : " Short and 
thin, yet appearing broad; muscular, yet meagre; a 
large head, with stiff, stubborn, carroty hair ; long, col- 
orless face ; prominent hooked nose ; projecting, large, 



JEFFERSON THE SECOND. 67 

hazel eyes ; thin lips ; and a large mouth which could be 
twisted into a variety of expression, and which, com- 
bining with his other features, eminently served the pur- 
pose of the comic muse, — such was the physiognomy 
of William Twaits." 

This actor, born April 25th, 1781, a native of Bir- 
mingham, England, died in New York, August 2 2d, 
1 8 14, of consumption, precipitated by his convivial 
habits. Twaits married Mrs. Villiers, formerly Miss 
Eliza Westray, and he was the manager of the Rich- 
mond Theatre at the time of the fatal conflagration 
which destroyed it, — and with it so many lives, — 
December 26th, 181 1. The mother of Jefferson the 
Fourth, who had received instruction from him, and 
often acted with him, was accustomed to speak with 
enthusiasm of his brilliant mental qualities and the fine 
texture of his dramatic art. A three-quarter length 
painting of Twaits as Br. Pangloss long existed among 
the possessions of the Jefferson family, but ultimately 
disappeared. 

Prominent among the accessible sources of informa- 
tion respecting the life of Jefferson after he settled in 
Philadelphia are William B. Wood's " Personal Recol- 
lections of the Stage," and Francis Courtney Wemyss's 
"Theatrical Biography." The former volume, pub- 
lished in 1855, in its author's seventy- sixth year, cov- 
ers, discursively, the period from 1797 to 1846, in Phil- 
adelphia theatrical history; the latter, published in 
1848, in its author's fifty-first year, traverses, in part, 
the. same general ground, from 1822 to 1841, though, 
altogether, it is Wemyss's Autobiography, beginning in 



68 THE JEFFERSONS. 

1797 and ending in 1846. These writers were asso- 
ciated for several years. Wood, who had long been 
employed in Wignell's company, became stage-manager 
of the Chestnut in 1806, and a partner with Warren in 
the management in 1809. Wemyss was engaged for 
the Chestnut company by Wood in 1822, and after 
Wood had retired he became the stage-manager under 
Warren (1827). To both of them, accordingly, the 
affairs of the theatre were well known. They were not 
harmonious spirits, as their respective memoirs abun- 
dantly show ; but they concur perfectly, with reference 
to Jefferson, in admiration for his character as a man, 
and for his great abilities as an actor. 

Jefferson's first appearance under. Mrs. Wignell's 
management was made as Don Manuel, in Cibber's 
comedy of " She Would and She Would Not." He 
was seen at Baltimore * as well as at Philadelphia, " at 
once establishing," says Wood, "a reputation which 
neither time nor age could impair." The references 
to him, in Wood and in Wemyss, are numerous, but 
are mostly unemphatic, the only notable quality about 
them being their manner, which always implies a dis- 
tinct sense of the solidity and high worth of his repu- 

* The managers of the Chestnut had a theatrical circuit which in- 
cluded Baltimore and Washington, and they were accustomed to make 
regular, periodical visits to those cities. Cowell makes one of his char- 
acteristic jibes, in referring to this fact : " Baltimore had for years been 
visited by Warren and Wood with the same jog-trot company and the 
same old pieces, till they had actually taught the audience to stay away." 
— CowclFs Thirty Years. The allusion, of course, is to a later pe- 
riod. With reference to Cowell, see ante, p. 8, and />ost, pp. 101-145. — 
W. W. 



JEFFERSON THE SECOND. 69 

tation. During the season of 1 808 he was seen no less 
than ten different times in Sir Oliver Surface, Charles 
Surface, and Crabtree. His personation of Sir Peter 
Teazle was also highly approved, but it appears to have 
been accounted inferior to that of Warren — probably 
because it excelled in elegant quaintness and in senti- 
ment rather than in the more appreciable quality of 
uxorious excess or of rubicund humor. In 1810-11 
the performance for his annual benefit yielded $1,403 ; 
in 1814, $1,221 (at Baltimore); in 1815, $1,618; in 
1816, $1,009; in 1822, $697. "The starring system," 
Wood says, " now began to show its baleful effects on 
the actors, whose benefits, after a season of extreme 
labor, uniformly failed." In the season of 1815-T6, 
"The Ethiop " and " Zembuca " were among the 
pieces presented at the Chestnut, and Wood records 
that " much of their success was owing to the taste and 
skill of Jefferson in the construction of intricate stage 
machinery, of which on many occasions he proved 
himself a perfect master, not unfrequently improving 
materially the English models. These valuable ser- 
vices were Wholly gratuitous, all remuneration being 
uniformly declined. He felt himself amply repaid for 
the exercise of his varied talent by the prosperity of 
the establishment of which for twenty-five years he 
continued the pride and ornament. . . . ' The Wood- 
man's Hut,' with an effective conflagration scene de- 
signed by Jefferson, produced several houses of $700 
each." 

One of the Chestnut casts of " The School For Scan- 
dal " (1822) is illustrative of the opulence of its dra- 
matic resources : — 



JO THE JEFFERSONS. 

Sir Peter Teazle Warren. 

Sir Oliver Surface Francis. 

Charles Surface Wood. 

Joseph Surface H. Wallack. 

Sir Benjamin Backbite Johnson. 

Crabtree Jefferson. 

Rowley Hathwell. 

Moses T. Burke. 

Careless Darley. 

Trip John Jefferson. 

Snake Greene. 

Lady Teazle Mrs. Wood. 

Lady Sneerwell . . Mrs. Lafolle. 

Mrs. Candour Mrs. Francis. 

Maria Mrs. H. Wallack. 

Maid Mrs. Greene. 

This is given according to Wood's record. That of 
Wemyss, however, also gives it, assigning Sir Benjamin 
Backbite to Thomas Jefferson. 

Sol Smith, in his " Theatrical Management in the 
West and South for Thirty Years," mentions one of 
the memorable Chestnut casts, which he saw there on 
the occasion of a visit to Philadelphia in 1823. "I 
witnessed that night," he says "the performance of 
'The Fortress,' and 'A Roland for an Oliver.' The 
afterpiece was a rich treat to me. How could it be 
otherwise, with such a cast as the following : — 

Sir Mark Chase Warren. 

Fixture Jefferson. 

Alfred Highflyer Wemyss. 

Selbourne Darley. 

Maria Mrs. Darley. 

Mrs. Selbourne Mrs. Wood. 

Mrs. Fixture Mrs. Jefferson." 



JEFFERSON THE SECOND. J I 

"The Fortress" referred to is a musical drama by 
Theodore Edward Hook, first acted at the Haymarket, 
London, in 1807. 

A minute account, year by year, of Jefferson's pro- 
fessional toils at the Chestnut Street Theatre cannot be 
attempted in this place ; nor is there room here for a 
detailed description of his associates, and of the rise and 
fall of their theatrical reputations, under the influence 
of a changing public taste and of the stress of lapsing 
time. Ample materials, however, exist in Warren's man- 
uscript journals and elsewhere for a particular history of 
this period and of its dramatic luminaries. The pur- 
pose of the present memoir is sufficiently fulfilled in a 
general indication of the field and the character of Jef- 
ferson's artistic life. 

The venerable actor and manager, Mr. N. M. Ludlow, 
who published his reminiscences in 1880, under the 
title of " Dramatic Life as I Found it," glances at the 
character of Jefferson's acting, in the following passage : 
"While in Philadelphia (in 1826), I had the pleasure 
of beholding a performance of ' Old Jefferson,' as he 
was then called. ... I had seen him in New York 
when I was a youth of seventeen, early in the year 181 2, 
when Wood and Jefferson came to New York to per- 
form, while Cooper and others went from New York to 
Philadelphia for a like purpose. I was delighted with 
Jefferson when I saw him then, as a boy. I was not less 
so when I now beheld him with professional eyes and 
some experience. The comedy that I saw played in 
Philadelphia was by Frederic Pillon, and entitled ' He 
Would be a Soldier,' with the following cast of charac- 



72 THE JEFFERSONS. 

ters : Sir Oliver Oldstock, Warren ; Captain Crevett, 
George Barrett ; for many years well known as a gen- 
teel comedian ; Caleb, Jefferson ; Charlotte, the beau- 
tiful Mrs. Barrett. All are now dead. In Jefferson's 
acting there was a perfection of delineation I have sel- 
dom, if ever, seen in any other comedian of his line of 
character ; not the least attempt at exaggeration to ob- 
tain applause, but a naturalness and truthfulness that 
secured it, without the appearance of any extraordinary 
efforts from him. The nearest approach to his style is 
that of his grandson, of the same name." 

Upon the state of the stage in America, sixty years 
ago, — viewing it, of course, as an institution existing 
broadcast and only prosperous at special places, and, 
at the same time, making allowance for the mental ec- 
centricity of the writer, — much useful light is thrown by 
a letter which was addressed by J. B. Booth, the trage- 
dian, to the comic actor, George Holland, in 1826. A 
copy of this manuscript was given by Holland to the 
present biographer, in 1870, and was first "published in 
July of that year. It is now reproduced : — 

New York, Xmas Eve, 1826. 
but direct y'r letter to the Theatre Baltimore U States. 

My Dear Sir : Messrs. Wallack and Freeman, a few days 
since, shewed me your letter, with the inclosure sent last win- 
ter to you at Sheffield. 

It is requisite that I inform you Theatricals are not in so 
flourishing a condition in this Country as they were some two 
years ago. There are four Theatres in this City each endeav- 
oring to ruin the others, by foul means as well as fair. The re- 
duction of the prices of admission has proved (as I always 
anticipated from the first suggestion of such a foolish plan) 



JEFFERSON THE SECOND. 73 

nearly ruinous to the Managers. The Publick here often wit- 
ness a Performance in every respect equal to what is pre- 
sented at the Theatres Royal D. L. and C. G. for these prices. 
Half a Dollar to the Boxes and a quarter do. to the Pit and Gal- 
lery ! 

The Chatham Theatre of which I am the Stage-Manager, at 
these low prices [holds] one thousand Dollars. — Acting is sold 
too cheap to the Publick and the result will be a general theat- 
rical bankruptcy. 

Tragedians are in abundance — Macready — Conway — Ham- 
blin — Forrest (now No. 1) Cooper, Wallack — Maywood and 
self with clivers others now invest New-York. But it won't do ; 
a diversion to the south must be made — or to Jail three- 
fourths of the Great men and Managers must go. 

Now Sir, I will deal fairly with you. If you will pledge your- 
self to me for three years, and sacredly promise that no induce- 
ment which may be held out by the unprincipled and daring 
speculators which abound in this country shall cause you to 
leave me, I will, for ten months in each year, give you thirty 
dollars per week, and an annual benefit which you shall divide 
with me. Beyond this sum I would not venture, the privilege 
of your name for Benefits Extra to be allowed me — and I 
should expect the terms on which you would be engaged to re- 
main secret from all but ourselves. 

Mind this — whether you play in my Theatres or elsewhere 
in the U States, I should look for implicit and faithful perform- 
ances of your duty toward me or my colleagues ! In case I 
should require you to travel, when in the United States, which 
is most probable, I will defray all the charges of conveyance for 
you and your luggage — your living would not be included 
either' by land or water — Boarding (three meals a day,) and 
your Bed room, may be had in very respectable houses here & 
in Baltimore at from four to six dollars per week — " Lodgings 
to let " are very scarce and expensive, and the customs of this 
country, in this respect, are essentially different to those of the 
English. 

The M. S. and music of Paul Pry, with Faustus's music Do. 



74 THE JEFFERSONS. 

and Book of the Pilot, the M. S. and Do. of a piece played 
some few years back at Sadlers Wells, call'd " the Gheber or 
the Fire Worshippers," two or three of Liston's new pieces I 
should advise you to bring. And particularly the Gheber, for 
me. The Mogul Tale here is out of print. 

In the Exeter Theatre last January were two actresses that I 

should like to engage. Miss P (not the Miss P. formerly 

of Drury Lane) and Miss H. If you will inquire after them — 
I will thank you. To each of these ladies a salary of fifteen 
dollars a week I can venture offering — 15 dollars are upward 
of three Guineas and Benefit annually. 

Now, Sir, I have offered to you and those Ladies as much as 
I can in honesty afford to give, their travelling expenses to and 
from Theatres in the United States (not including board) I 
should defray, as I told you respecting your own — and the use 
of their names for benefits on Stock nights. — Your line of busi- 
ness would be exclusively yotcrs. For the ladies I would not 
make this guaranty — The greatest actress in the World I may 
say is now in this city (Mrs. D — )* and several very talented 
women — besides I would endeavor to make such arrangements 

* Mary A. D. Duff [1 794-1857]. This was, probably, the greatest 
tragic actress that ever trod bur stage. It was to her that the poet 
Moore addressed his lovely melody, " While gazing on the Moon's 
Light." She was born in London ; married John R. Duff, of the Dub- 
lin stage ; came with him to America in 1810; and in subsequent years 
had a career of astonishing brilliancy, — darkened, however, by much 
personal misfortune. She died, of cancer, at No. 36 West Ninth Street, 
New York, and is buried in Greenwood (Lot 8,999, grave 805). Her life, 
written by Mr. Ireland, is shortly to be published. Ludlow describes 
her as " refined, quiet, yet powerful ; not boisterous, yet forcible ; 
graceful in all her motions, and dignified without stiffness." She had 
lived a Catholic all her days, but became a Methodist toward the last, 
after her marriage with Mr. J. G. Sevier, of New Orleans. Her death 
and burial were obscure ; and for many years her final fate remained un- 
known,— some of her relatives being averse to the association of her 
name with the stage, and desirous of burying the whole subject in ob- 
livion. She was a good woman as well as a great actress, and her 
name will live in honorable renown. — W. W. 



JEFFERSON THE SECOND. 75 

for Miss P — and Miss H — as would not be very repugnant to 
their ambition. 

The reason Mrs. D does not go to London is my strenu--^ 

ous advice to her against it. — The passages from Europe I \ 
should expect repaid to me out of the salaries, by weekly de- 
ductions of three dollars each. The captain of the ship would 
call upon the parties or you might write to them on his visit to 
you. Everything on board will be furnished that is requisite for 
comfort, and the expenses I will settle for here previous to start- 
ing Mind the ship you would come over in is one expressly 
bargained for, and will bring you where I shall (if living) be/ 
ready to welcome you — 

Let me recomend you to Economy — see what a number of 
our brethren are reduced to Indigence by their obstinate Van- 
ity — I have here Mr. D — who was once in London the rival of 
Elliston, and is now a better actor — approaching the age of 
sixty, and not a dollar put by for a rainy day — too proud to ac- 
cept a salary of twenty dollars per week in a regular engage- 
ment — he stars and starves. Many have been deceived and 
misled in their calculations in coming to this country — some 
have cut their throats &c from disappointment — Mrs. Romer 
(once of the Surrey) Mrs. Alsop Mr. Entwistle — Kirby the 
Clown — are all on the felo de se list — with others I now 
forget — 

The temptations to Drunkenness here are too common and 
too powerful for many weak beings who construe the approval 
of a boisterous circle of intoxicated fools as the climax of every-Y 
thing desirable in their profession — What do they find it, when 
a weakened shattered fraim, with loss of memory and often rea- 
son, are the results — The hangers on — drop astern — and the 
poor wreck drives down the Gulf despised or pitied, and totally 
deserted. ' 

If you choose accepting my offer — get for me those ladies. 
Sims can perhaps tell you where they are, and I will on the first 
occasion send for you and them, with the articles of agreement 
to be signed in London and legally ratified on your arrival in 
America — recollect this — the Passages in Summer, owinsr to 



U 



J6 THE JEFFERSONS. 

the calms are longer in performing, but they are much safer, and 
the Newfoundland Bank is an ugly place to cross in Winter, 
though it is often done, yet still it is a great risk. 

The Crisis which left London Docks, last January with all ]/■ 
her passengers after being out for 68 days, and being spoken to 
on the banks by another vessel — is not yet come or will she 
ever — The icebergs no doubt struck her, as they have many — 
and the last farewell was echoed by the waves. — 

Write to me soon and glean the information I ask for — 
The letter bag for United States vessels — from London is \T 
kept at the North American Coffee House near the Bank of 
England. 

Yours truly, 

Booth. 

Macready came to Philadelphia in the season of 
1826-27, t0 act at tne Chestnut, and on the day of 
his arrival was entertained at dinner, by the manager, 
Wood, — Jefferson being one of the guests. The next 
morning a rehearsal of " Macbeth " occurred, and Jef- 
ferson, who was lame with gout, appeared with a cane 
in his hand. This was an infraction of the well-known 
rule, but it was understood in the company that Mr. 
Jefferson w r as ill, and therefore the breach of stage eti- 
quette was not regarded. The comedian was to enact 
the First Witch. Macready immediately observed the 
cane, and with his customary arrogance determined to 
assert himself. " Tell that person," he said, " to put 
down his cane." The prompter, thus commanded, de- 
livered his message. "Tell Mr. Macready," said Jef- 
ferson, " that I shall not act with him during his en- 
gagement " ; and he left the stage. " Mr. Macready 
had a right," he afterwards remarked, " to object to the 
carrying of a cane, at rehearsal ; but it was obvious to 



JEFFERSON THE SECOND. 77 

me that this was not his point. He chose to disregard 
the fact that we were, and had met as, social equals, and 
to omit the civility of a word of inquiry which would have 
procured immediate explanation. His purpose was to 
overbear and humiliate me, so as to discipline and sub- 
jugate the rest of the company. It was a rude exer- 
cise of authority, and its manner was impertinent." 

The company at the Chestnut this season (which 
opened December 4th, 1826, with "The Stranger,") 
included Jefferson, Warren, Wood, Wemyss, Cowell, 
John Jefferson, Porter, W. Forrest, Heyl, Singleton, 
Meer, Jones, Wheatley, Webb, Darley, Hallam, Green, 
Bignall, Hosack, Parker, Murray, Garner, Howard, 
Klett, Mrs. Wood, Mrs. Jefferson, Mrs. Anderson, 
Mrs. Francis, Mrs. J. Jefferson, Mrs. Greene, Mrs. 
Darley, Mrs. Cowell, Mrs. Meer, Mrs. Murray, and the 
Misses Hathwell. 

Among the contemporary opinions of Jefferson that 
should be cited is that of John P. Kennedy, the novel- 
ist, author of " Horse-shoe Robinson," etc., who wrote 
of this great actor as follows : " He played everything 
that was comic, and always made people laugh until 
the tears came in their eyes. ... I don't believe he 
ever saw the world doing anything else. Whomsoever 
he looked at laughed. Before he came through the 
side scenes, when he was about to enter, he would pro- 
nounce the first words of his part, to herald his appear- 
ance, and instantly the whole audience set up a shout. 
It was only the sound of his voice. He had a patent 
right to shake the world's diaphragm, which seemed to 
be infallible. When he acted, families all went to- 



78 THE JEFFERSONS. 

gether, old and young. Smiles were on every face ; the 
town was happy." 

" In low or eccentric comedy/' says Ireland, " he 
has rarely been equalled ; yet his success in other lines 
was very great." 

In the same vein wrote the poet, N. P. Willis : " In 
the days of ' Salmagundi,' in the days when the leaders 
of intellect and of society were frequenters of our thea- 
tres, flourished Jefferson (the Second) ; and there are 
some yet living who will speak to us with all the fond- 
ness of early recollections, connected with the fresh- 
ness of life, of one who now lies mouldering beneath 
the sod." 

These tributes are examples of the general testimony 
of his time, with reference to Jefferson the Second. He 
was a man of original mind, studious habits, fine tem- 
perament, natural dignity, and great charm of charac- 
ter, and his life was free from contention, acrimony, 
and reproach. How full it was of labor, and what wide 
versatility of shining intellectual power it exemplified, 
may, perhaps, be suggested by the specification of some 
of the parts that he acted. The list comprises one 
hundred and ninety-eight characters — (more than were 
undertaken by Macklin, who presented but one hun- 
dred and fifty-eight,) and it is incomplete ; but it is 
an eloquent voucher for the powers and devoted zeal 
of the actor, and it may serve to suggest reflection on 
the quality of dramatic entertainment that was relished 
in a past age. 



JEFFERSON THE SECOND. 79 

PARTS ACTED BY JEFFERSON THE SECOND. 

Squire Richard, in " The Provoked Husband, or A Jour- 
ney to London." Comedy. By Colley Cibber. Drury Lane, 
1728. 

Tagg, in " The Spoiled Child." Farce. Drury Lane, 1790. 
Attributed to Isaac Bickerstaffe. 

Yotcng Clackett, in " The Guardian." Comedy. By David 
Garrick. Drury Lane, 1759, 1773. Based on " La Pupille," 
by M. Fagan. 

La Gloire, in " The Surrender of Calais." Play. By George 
Colman, Jr. Haymarket, 1791. Based on a French novel. 

Sebastien, in "The Midnight Hour." Comedy. By Eliza- 
beth Inchbald. Covent Garden, 1788. From the French of 
of M. Damaniant. 

William, in the opera of "Rosina." By Mrs. Brooke. Cov- 
ent Garden, 1783. Story of Boaz and Ruth, in the Bible. 

Bombastes Furioso, in the burlesque tragic opera of that 
name. 

Sir Harry Harmless, in " I'll Tell You What." Comedy. 
By Elizabeth Inchbald. Haymarket, 1785-86. Colman named 
this piece. 

One of the Philosophers, in " The Merry Girl, or The Two 
Philosophers." 

Grime, in " The Deserted Daughter." Comedy. By Thomas 
Holcroft. Covent Garden, 1795. — This piece was sometimes 
acted under the name of " The Steward." — Item, in this, was 
also one of Jefferson's characters. 

Don Vincentio, in "A Bold Stroke for a Husband." Comedy. 
By Mrs. Hannah Cowley. Covent Garden, 1783. 

Sir David Daw, in " The Wheel of Fortune." Comedy. By 
Richard Cumberland. Drury Lane, 1795. 

Endless, in " The Young Quaker." Comedy. By John 
O'Keefe. Haymarket, 1783. 

Adonis, alias Joe the Shepherd, in " Poor Vulcan, or Gods 
upon Earth." Burlesque. By Charles Dibdin. Covent Gar- 
den, 1778. 



A, 



SO THE JEFFERSONS. 

Charles in " Know Your Own Mind." Comedy. By Arthur 
Murphy. Covent Garden, 1777. The character of Dash- 
would, in this piece, was intended to portray Foote, the actor and 
dramatist. 

Dorilas, in " The Whims of Galatea, or The Power of Love." 
Jefferson painted the scenery for this piece, at the John Street 
Theatre, New York, March, 1796. 

Edzuard, in " The Haunted Tower." Comic Opera. By 
James Cobb. Drury Lane, 1789. 

Papillion, in "The Liar." Comedy. By Samuel Foote. 
Covent Garden, 1762. 

Sadi, the Moor, in " The Mountaineers, or Love and Mad- 
ness." Play. By George Colman, Jr. Haymarket, 1795. Based 
on the episode of Cardenio, in " Don Quixote." — "Jefferson's 
Sadi was universally admired and applauded. The music of 
the piece he is perfectly acquainted with, and his manner 
of delivering the duets, in conjunction with Mrs. Wilmot's 
notes, in Agnes, communicated the highest gratification and 
delight. Few theatres can boast of such a Sadi or of such an 
Agnes." — The Thespian Monitor, December 16th, 1809. 

Davy, in "Bon Ton." Farce. By David Garrick. Drury 
Lane, 1775. 

Lieutenant, in " The Archers, or The Mountaineers of Switzer- 
land." Opera. By William Dunlap. Called, also, " William 
Tell ; or, The Archers." 

Tallboy, in " The Spanish Barber." Musical Farce. By 
George Colman, Sr. Haymarket, 1777. 

Carlos, in "The Man of Fortitude." 

Polonius, and Osric, in Shakespeare's tragedy of " Hamlet." 
— " Jefferson was the best Polonius that ever trod the American 
stage. No other actor ever succeeded so well in combining the 
courtier and the gentleman with the humorist. He gave 
elegance and dignity to the character." — Old N. Y. Spirit of 
the Times. 

Silky, in " The Road to Ruin." Comedy. By Thomas Hol- 
croft. Covent Garden, 1792. 

Clown, in "Harlequin's Vagaries." — There are many old 



JEFFERSON THE SECOND. 8 1 

plays on the subject of Harlequin. The Biographia Drama- 
tica mentions no less than sixty of them. 

Witzki, in "Zorinski." Drama. By Thomas Morton. Hay- 
market, 1795. 

Toby 'Thatch, in "The London Hermit, or Rambles in 
Dorsetshire." Comedy. By John O'Keefe. Haymarket, 1793. 
Varland, in "The West Indian." Comedy. By Richard 
Cumberland. Drury Lane, 177 1. 

Officer, in " The Independence of America." Pantomine. 
1796. 

Touchstone, Adam, Le Beau, and William, in Shakespeare's 
comedy of " As You Like It." 

Gregory Gubbin, in " The Battle of Hexham." Drama. By 
George Colman, Jr. Music by Dr. Arnold. Haymarket, 1789. 
Story of Margaret, Queen to Henry VI. befriended by a 
bandit. 

Dickey Gossip, in " My Grandmother." Farce. By Prince 
Hoare. Drury Lane, 1796. 

Leopold, in "The Siege of Belgrade." Comic Opera. By 
James Cobb. Music by Stephen Storace. Jefferson painted 
scenery for this. 

Herbert, in " The Man of Ten Thousand.." Comedy. By 
Thomas Holcroft. Drury Lane, 1796. 

Tom Holton, in " Tell Truth and Shame the Devil." Comedy. 
By William Dunlap. John Street Theatre, New York, 1797. 
Reduced to one act, and played at Covent Garden, London,^- 
May 1 8th, 1799, for benefit of Mrs. Johnson. 

Don F'erolo Whiskerandos, in " The Critic." Farce. By 
Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Drury Lane, 1779. 

Robert, in " The Prisoner." Musical Piece. By John Rose. 
1792. 

Jack Arable, in " Speculation." Comedy. By Frederic 
Reynolds. Covent Gardefi, 1795. 

Osman, in " The Two Misers." Farce. By Kane O'Hara. 
Covent Garden, 1775. 

David Mowbray, in "First Love, or The French Emigrant." 
Comedy. Drury Lane, 1795. — Dora Jordan was admirably 



82 THE JEFFERSONS. 

good as Sabina Rosni, — the part acted in America by Mrs. 
Hodgkinson. 

Michael, in "The Adopted Child." Musical piece. By 
Samuel Birch. Drury Lane, 1795. 

Dogberry, and also Verges, in Shakespeare's comedy of " Much 
Ado About Nothing," 

Sancho, in "Love Makes a Man, or The Fop's Fortune." 
Comedy. By Colley Cibber. Drury Lane, 1701. 

Sir Adam Contest, in " The Wedding Day." Comedy. By 
Elizabeth Inchbald. Drury Lane, 1794. 

Peter, in " The Stranger." Dunlap's version of Kotzebue's 
drama. 

Nicholas Rue, in " Secrets Worth Knowing." Comedy. By 
Thomas Morton. Covent Garden, 1798. 

Sir Peter Curious, in " The Telegraph." Comedy. By John 
Dent. Covent Garden, 1795. 

Williams, in " He 's Much to Blame." Comedy. By Thomas 
Holcroft. Covent Garden, 1798. 

Lafleur, in " Sterne's Maria, or The Vintage." Opera. By 
William Dunlap. Music by Pellesier, 1799. 

Realize, in "The Will." Comedy. By Frederic Reynolds. 
Drury Lane, 1797. 

Sir Stately Perfect, in " The Natural Daughter." Comedy. 
By William Dunlap. 1799. New York Park Theatre. 

Stephen, in "Every Man in His Humor." Comedy. By Ben 
Jonson. 1 598. 

Count Cassell, in " Lover's Vows." Drama. Adapted by 
William Dunlap, from Kotzebue. New York Park, 1799. 

fames, in " Bourville Castle." Musical Drama. By Rev. 
John Blair Linn. 1797. 

Sir Samuel Sheepy, in "The School for Arrogance." Comedy. 
By Thomas Holcroft. Covent Garden, 1791. 

Toby Allspice, in " The Way to get Married." Comedy. By 
Thomas Morton. Covent Garden, 1796. 

Bluntly, in " Next Door Neighbors." Comedy. By Eliza- 
beth Inchbald. Haymarket, 1791. 

fack Meggott, in " The Suspicious Husband." Comedy. By 



JEFFERSON THE SECOND. 8$ 

Dr. Benjamin Hoadly. Covent Garden, 1747. Garrick was 
famously good, in this piece, as Ranger. George the Second 
sent the author one hundred pounds, as a compliment. Foote 
says, of this part of Jack Meggott : " The importation of fopperies 
from France we have laughed at till we are tired. Our author 
was willing to try whether Italy could not furnish a fool as 
ridiculous and diverting as our neighbors. But no sooner has 
Jack Meggott raised our attention but he slips through our 
fingers like an eel, and we hear no more of him till the last 
scene. He does in truth survive the loss of his monkey; but 
he is never, tolerable company after." 

Cloten, in Shakespeare's tragedy of " Cymbeline." 

Ralph, in " Lock and Key." Musical Farce. By Prince 
Hoare. Covent Garden, 1796-97. 

Plainwell, in " A Quarter of An Hour Before Dinner." 
Farce. By Rev. John Rose. Haymarket, 1788. 

Frank, in " Half an Hour After Supper." Haymarket, 
1789. 

Tom Seymour, in "Fortune's Fool."- Comedy. By Fred- 
eric Reynolds. Covent Garden, 1796. 

Sir Shenkin, in " Fontainebleau, or Our Way in France." 
Comic Opera. By John O'Keefe. Covent Garden, 1784. The 
sub-title given to this piece when it was acted in America was 
" John Bull in Paris." The part of Sir Shenkin Ap Griffin was 
subsequently changed, by the author, to Squire Tallyho. 

Septimus, in " The Doldrum." Farce. By John O'Keefe. 
Covent Garden, 1796. 

Lord Grizzle, in " The Life and Death of Tom Thumb, the 
Great." Burlesque. 1 785. 

Jack Bowline, and also Captain Bertram, in " Fraternal Dis- 
cord." Drama, adapted, from the German of Kotzebue, by 
William Dunlap. John Street Theatre, 1800. 

Farmer Ashfield, in " Speed the Plough." Comedy. By 
Thomas Morton. Covent Garden, 1800. — Ireland cites a 
critical opinion on Jefferson's personation of Farmer Ashfield, 
which is suggestively descriptive of his quality and style : 
" No man possessed such happy requisites for exhibiting this 



84 THE JEFFERSONS. 

character in the true colors of nature as Mr. Jefferson. In the 
rustic deportment and dialect, in the artless effusions of be- 
nignity and undisguised truth, and in those masterly strokes of 
pathos and simplicity with which the author has finished the 
inimitable picture, Mr. Jefferson showed uniform excellence ; 
and, as, in the humorous parts, his comic powers produced their 
customary effect, so, in the serious overflowings of the honest 
farmer's nature, the mellow, deep, impressive tones of the actor's 
voice vibrated to the heart, and produced the most intense and 
exquisite sensations." — Mirror of Taste, Vol. I. page 75. 

Lord Listless, in " The East Indian." Comedy. By M. G. 
Lewis. Drury Lane, 1799. 

Launcelot Gobbo, in Shakespeare's comedy of " The Merchant 
of Venice." 

Pero, in " The Spanish Castle, or the Knight of Guadalquiver." 
Musical 'Drama. By William Dunlap. Music by Hewitt. 
1800. 

Mcmno, in " Abaellino." Drama, by William Dunlap, from 
the German of Zsokke. 

Lackbrain, in " Life." Comedy. By Frederic Reynolds. 
Covent Garden, 1801. 

Konrakim, in " The Captive of Spilsberg." Drama. By 
Prince Hoare. Drury Lane, 1799. 

Hans Molkin, in " The Wild Goose Chase." Translated by 
William Dunlap. 

Young Scharfeneck, in " The Force of Calumny." Drama. 
Adapted from the German, by William Dunlap. 

Sambo, in " Laugh When You Can." Comedy. By Frederic 
Reynolds. Covent Garden, 1799. 

Diego, in " The Virgin of the Sun." Drama. Translated 
from Kotzebue. Jefferson also acted, later, Orozembo, in 
" Pizarro, or the Death of Rolla," — another version of the 
same piece. 

Conrad, in " The Stranger's Birthday," a sequel to Kotzebue's 
play of "The Stranger." 

Fcrrett, in " The Horse and the Widow." Farce. Altered 
from the German of Kotzebue, by Thomas Dibdin. Covent 
Garden, 1799. 



JEFFERSON THE SECOND. 85 

Sir Matthew Maxim, in " Five Thousand A Year." Comedy. 
By Thomas Dibdin. Covent Garden, 1799. 

Jack Acorn, in " Columbia's Daughters." Drama. By Mrs. 
Susanna Rowson, Author of " The Female Patriot," " Slaves 
in Algiers," " Charlotte Temple," " Americans in England," and 
other pieces. — 1800. 

Sir William Howe, in "Bunker Hill, or The Death of War- 
ren." Drama. By John D. Burke, 1797. 

Samuel, in " The Indians in England, or The Nabob of 
Mysore." Drama. Adapted by William Dunlap, from 
Kotzebue. 

Stephano, in Shakespeare's comedy of " The Tempest." 

Soleby, in " The School for Soldiers." Play, from the French, 
by William Dunlap. 

Zekiel Homespun, in "The Heir at Law." Comedy. By George 
Coleman, Jr. Haymarket, 1797. 

Jezu, in " Self-immolation, or Family Distress." Drama. 
Adapted, from Kotzebue, by William Dunlap. 

Some of the old-fashioned, once popular, but now faded and 
forgotten melo-dramas rejoiced in wonderful titles. Sol Smith 
once produced a piece entitled " The Hunter of the Alps, or 
The Runaway Horse that Threw His Rider in the Forest of 
Savoy." And there is in print a remarkable play, called " The 
Lonely Man of the Ocean, or The Night Before The Bridal, with 
the Terrors of the Yellow Admiral and the Perils of the Battle 
and the Breeze." 

John, in " False Shame." Drama. Adapted from the 
German, by William Dunlap. 

Louis, in " The Robbery." Drama by Monvel. Translated 
by William Dunlap. 

Toby, in " The Wandering Jew, or Love's Masquerade." 
Comedy. By Andrew Franklin. Drury Lane, 1797. 

Cloddy, in " The Mysteries of the Castle." By Miles Peter 
Andrews. Covent Garden, 1795. 

Motley, in " The Castle Spectre." Drama. By Matthew 
Gregory Lewis. Drury Lane, 1798. — "A story has been told 
that about the end of the season (this piece having proved very 



86 THE JEFFERSONS. 

successful), Mr. Sheridan and the author had a dispute, in the 
green-room ; when the latter offered, in confirmation of his argu- 
ments, to bet all the money which 'The Castle Spectre' had 
brought, that he was right. ' No,' said Sheridan : ' I cannot af- 
ford to bet all it has brought ; but I '11 tell you what I '11 do — 
I '11 bet you all it is worth.' " — Biographia Dramatica. 

Paulo, in "The Italian Monk." Drama. By James Boaden. 
1797. Founded on Mrs. Radcliffe's novel, of that name. 

Hurry, in " The Maid of the Oaks." Farce. By Gen. J°hn 
Burgoyne. Drury Lane, 1774. Covent Garden, with Mrs. 
Abington in it, 1782. — This author was the pretentious British 
commander who capitulated to General Gates, at Saratoga, 
in 1777, — prompting Sheridan's couplet: 

" Burgoyne defeated — oh, ye Fates, 
Could not this Samson carry Gates ! " 

Kudrin, in " Count Benyowski." Drama. By William Dun- 
lap. Park, 1799. 

Fool, in " The Italian Father." Drama. By William Dunlap. 
Park, 1799. 

Marshal Ingelheim, in " The Harper's Daughter, or Love and 
Ambition." Called, also, " The Minister." Drama. Adapted 
by M. G. Lewis, from " Love and Intrigue," by Schiller. 

Bribon, in " Columbus." 

Jack Stocks, in " The Lottery." Farce. By Henry Fielding. 
Drury Lane, 1731. 

Don Guzman, in " The Follies of A Day." Comedy. By 
Thomas Holcroft. Covent Garden, 1785. Adapted from "La 
Folle Journee," by Beaumarchais. 

Humphrey Grizzle, and also Frank, in " The Three and the 
Deuce." Comedy. By Prince Hoare. Haymarket, 1795. 

This piece is suggestive of both the " Comedy of Errors " and 
" She Stoops to Conquer." The comic effect is obtained by 
means of complications arising out of the bewildering resem- 
blance between three brothers, — each being mistaken for 
another, and all displayed at cross purposes with the rest of the 
characters. Frank is a rustic, of the Zekiel Jlomespun stripe; 
Humphrey Grizzle an opinionated, cranky, eccentric old scr- 



JEFFERSON THE SECOND. 87 

vant, whose perplexity affords much amusement. The three 
brothers, — Percival, Peregrine, and Pertinax Single, — who 
" raise the Deuce " by being exactly alike in appearance but 
very diverse in character and conduct, are acted by one and 
the same person. 

Scaramouch, in " Don Juan." 

Bras De Fer, in Tekeli, or " The Siege of Montgatz." Melo- 
drama. By T. H. Hook. Drury Lane, 1806. 

Justice Greedy, in " A New Way to Pay Old Debts." Comedy. 
By Philip Massinger. Acted at the Phoenix in Drury Lane, 1633. 

Jargon, in " The Bulse of Diamonds, or What is She ? " 
I Dr. Doddrell ?] 

Alibi, in " The Toy, or The Lie of the Day." Comedy. By 
John O'Keefe. Covent Garden, 1789. 

Tom Starch, in " The Wise Man of the East." Play. By 
Elizabeth Inchbald. Adapted from Kotzebue. Covent Garden. 
1799. 

Sir Peter Teazle, Sir Oliver Surface, Charles Surface, Crabtree, 
and Moses, in " The School For Scandal." Comedy. By 
Richard Brinsley Sheridan. First acted May 8th, 1777, at 
Drury Lane. 

Sheepface, in "The Village Lawyer." Farce. From the 
French, 1795. 

Block, in " Where is He ? " Farce. By William Dunlap. 1801. 

Dubois in " The Abbe de L'Epee, or Deaf and Dumb." 1801. 

Guillot, in " Richard Coeur de Lion." Historical Play. By 
Gen. John Burgoyne. Drury Lane, 1786. 

Sir Robert Bramble, and also Dr. Ollapod, in " The Poor Gentle- 
man." Comedy. By George Colman. Jr. Covent Garden, 1802. 

Peter Postobit, in " Folly As It Flies." Comedy. By Frederic 
Reynolds. Covent Garden, 1802. 

Lodozuich, in " Adelmorn, the Outlaw." Drama. By M. G. 
Lewis. Drury Lane, 1801. 

Ibrahim, in " Blue Beard, or Female Curiosity." Musical 
Extravaganza By George Colman, Jr. Drury Lane, 1798. 

Muley Hassan, in " Fiesco." Drama. From the German of 
Schiller. 1796, 1798. 



88 THE JEFFERSONS. 

Dominique, in the opera of " Paul and Virginia." By James 
Cobb. Music by Mazzinghi and Reeve. Covent Garden, 1800. 

Mcndoza, in "The Duenna." Comic Opera. By R. B. Sheri- 
dan. Covent Garden, 1775. 

Colin, in " The Irish Mimic, or Blunders at Brighton." 
Musical Farce. By John O'Keefe. Covent Garden, 1795. 

Nicholas, in " The Follies of Fashion." Comedy. By Leonard 
McNally. Original title " Fashionable Levities." Covent 
Garden, 1785. 

Francis, in Shakespeare's play of " King Henry IV." 

Cadi, in " II Bondocani." Comic Opera. By Thomas Dib- 
din, 1801. Music by Boieldieu. Afterwards played as "The 
Caliph of Bagdad." 

Sharpset, in " The Votary of Wealth." Comedy. By J. G. 
Holman. Covent Garden, 1799. 

Maivzuorm, in " The Hypocrite." Comedy. By Isaac Bicker- 
staffe. Drury Lane, 1768. An alteration of Gibber's " The 
Non-Juror." 

Bobby Pendragon, in " Which Is the Man?" Comedy. By 
Mrs. Hannah Cowley. Covent Garden, 1783. 

Lord Foppington, in " The Relapse." Comedy. By Sir John 
Vanbrugh. Drury Lane, 1708. Altered, and named " The 
Country Heiress." 

Gil Bias, in a pantomime play entitled " Gil Bias." 

John, in a farce called " The Wheel of Truth," by James 
Fennel], the actor. Park, 1803. 

Ephraim, in "The School for Prejudice." Comedy. By 
Thomas Dibdin. Covent Garden, 1801. An enlargement of 
its author's previous comedy of " Liberal Opinions." 

Thomas, in "The Good Neighbor." Farce. 

Precipe Rebate, in " Retaliation." Farce. By Leonard Mc- 
Nally. Covent Garden, 1782. 

Michclli, in " A Tale of Mystery." Melodrama. By Thomas 
Holcroft. Covent Garden, 1802. Jefferson also acted Francisco, 
in this piece. 

Carlos, in " The Blind Boy." An alteration, made by William 
Dunlap, of Kotzebue's " The Epigram." 



JEFFERSON THE SECOND. 89 

Quillet, in " Hear Both Sides." Comedy. By Thomas Hol- 
croft. Drury Lane, 1803. 

Don Manuel, in " She Would and She Would Not." Comedy. 
By Colley Cibber. Drury Lane, 1703. 

Robert Grange, in "Delays and Blunders." Comedy. By 
Frederic Reynolds. Covent Garden, 1803. 

John Lump, in " The Review, or The Wags of Windsor." 
Musical Farce. By George Colman, Jr. Haymarket, 1808. 

Lord Dartford, in " The^Fair Fugitive, or He Forgot Him- 
self." This was " The Fair Fugitives," a musical extravaganza, 
by Miss Anna Maria Porter. Music by Dr. Busby. Acted at 
Covent Garden, 1803. 

Matthew Mug, in " A House To Be Sold." Musical piece. 
By James Cobb. Music by Kelly. Drury Lane, 1802. Altered 
and enlarged from a French piece, entitled " Maison a Vendre." 

Sir Benjamin Dove, in " The Brothers." Comedy. By Rich- 
ard Cumberland. Covent Garden, 1769. 

Jeremy Diddler, in " Raising the Wind." Farce. By James 
Kenney. Covent Garden. 1803. — Lewis was the original 
Jeremy. — " Diddler has been attempted by many celebrated 
comedians, but by none so successfully as by Jefferson, who 
exhibits the various dispositions of Jeremy with admirable 
effect." — The Thespian Monitor. 

Solus, in " Every One Has His Fault." Comedy. By Eliza- 
beth Inchbald. Covent Garden, 1793. 

Fixture, in "A Roland for an Oliver." Comedy, 1819. 

Jacques, and also Rolando, in " The Honeymoon." Comedy. 
By John Tobin. Drury Lane, 1805. 

Dromio of , in Shakespeare's "Comedy of Errors." 

Cowell was the other Dromio. 

Roderigo, in Shakespeare's tragedy of " Othello." 

Mercutio, and also Peter, in " Romeo and Juliet." The 
former part he acted for the first time, at the Chestnut Street 
Theatre, Philadelphia, in the season of 181 5-16. 

Timothy Quaint, in " The Soldier's Daughter." Comedy. 
By Andrew Cherry. Drury Lane, 1804. — Edwin Forrest, in 
his youth, often acted Malfort, in this piece. " The Soldier's 



90 THE JEFFERSONS. 

Daughter " was revived in Boston, at the Globe Theatre, in 
June, 1872, but failed. 

Drugget, in " Three Weeks After Marriage." Comedy. By 
Arthur Murphy. Covent Garden, 1776. 

Apollo Belvi, and also Buskin, in " Killing No Murder." 
Farce. By Theodore E. Hook. Haymarket, 1809. The elder 
Mathews was the original Buskin. 

Doctor Last, in "The Devil upon Two Sticks." Comedy. 
By Samuel Foote. Haymarket, 1768. The original Doctor 
Last was Weston. Foote acted the Devil. 

Tim Tartlet, in "The First Floor." Farce. By James Cobb. 
Drury Lane, 1787. 

Carlos, in " The Man of Fortitude." Drama, 1797. Alleged 
author, Hodgkinson ; but Mr. Dunlap claimed the piece as his 
own, under the name of " The Knight's Adventure," and said 
that Hodgkinson made use of his manuscript. 

Jasper Lunge, in " A Good Spec — Land in the Moon." 
Farce, 1797. 

Ennui, in " The Dramatist." Comedy. By Frederic Rey- 
nolds. Covent Garden, 1789. 

Frank Oatland, in " A Cure for the Heartache." Comedy. 
By Thomas Morton. Covent Garden, 1797. This was among 
Jefferson's best performances. 

Jacob Gawky, in " A Chapter of Accidents." Comedy. By 
Miss Sophia Lee. Haymarket, 1780. 

Kit Cosey, in " Town and Country." By Thomas Morton. 
Covent Garden, 1807. 

Tristram Fickle, in " The Weathercock." Farce. By J. T. 
Allingham. Drury Lane, 1806. — " Jefferson's Tristram, lively, 
active, and productive of real merriment." — Thespian Monitor, 
December 13th, 1809. 

Stave, in " The Shipwreck." Comic Opera. By S. J. Arnold. 
Drury Lane, 1796. 

Sampson Raiobold, in "The Iron Chest." Tragedy. By 
George Colman, Jr. Drury Lane, 1796. 

Bob Acres, in "The Rivals." Comedy. By Richard Brinsley 
Sheridan. Covent Garden, 1775. 



JEFFERSON THE SECOND. 91 

Sir Owen Ap Griffith, in " The Welsh Girl." Vaudeville. 

Old Rapid, in " A Cure for the Heartache." Comedy. By- 
Thomas Morton. Covent Garden, 1797. 

Captain Flash, in " Miss in her Teens." Farce. By David 
Garrick. Covent Garden, 1747. 

Dr. Lenitive, in "The Prize ; or 2-5-3-8." 

Dominie Sampson, in " Guy Mannnering." Musical Play. 
By Daniel Terry. Covent Garden, 1816. 

Caleb, in " He would be a Soldier." Comedy. By Fred- 
erick Pillon. Covent Garden, 1786. 

Dr. Smugface, in " A Budget of Blunders." Farce. By 
Prince Hoare. Covent Garden, 1810. 

One of the illustrations in this memoir'presents Mr. Jefferson 
as Dr. Smugface, and Mr. Blissett, as Dr. Dablancour y 'vc\ this 
farce. Mr. Jefferson wore a false nose, in Dr. Smugface, skil- 
fully made of wax, which increased the comicality of his aspect, 
in this irate character. 

Francis Blissett was one of the most charming actors of this 
delightful dramatic period. He was born in London, about 
the year 1773, and spent his early days at Bath. His father 
was a favorite comic actor, and the son early exhibited dramatic 
talent. He was taught music, and at first destined to that 
pursuit; but, at the age of eighteen, he made such a successful 
debut — appearing as Dr. Last, on the occasion of his father's 
benefit — that it was thought best to devote him to the stage. 
He came to America, in 1793, an d joined Wignell's company, 
at the Philadelphia Theatre (the Chestnut), and with that troupe 
he was connected for twenty-eight years. In 1821, having, by 
the death of his father, come into possession of a considerable 
inheritance, he withdrew from public life and from America, 
and established his residence in the island of Guernsey, where 
he died, at the age of seventy-five. He was a thoughtful man, 
of melancholy temperament and reserved demeanor, fond of 
books and of music, and a skilful player of the violin. His 
style of acting was marked by exquisite delicacy and finish. 
He preferred to act little parts and make them perfect, rather 
than to exercise his powers upon those of magnitude. His 



92 THE JEFFERSONS. 

humor was dry and quaint. He could speak with a capital 
Irish brogue, or with a French or a German accent. Among 
the parts in which he was excellent are Dr. Cants, the Mock 
Duke, in " The Honeymoon," the Clown, in "As You Like It," 
Crabtree, David, in " The Rivals," Crack, Verges, Dr. Dablan- 
cour, Sheepface, Dennis Brulgruddery, and the First Grave- 
digger. He was averse to society, seldom spoke, and was 
observed to be usually sad and distant in manner. It is said 
he was a natural child, and this circumstance bred in him an 
habitual reserve. He was benevolent, but by stealth, and 
shunned ostentation. He cultivated but few friendships, yet 
was greatly respected and liked. No character of the entire 
group is more interesting than that of Blissett. 

Nipperkin, in " The Sprigs of Laurel." Comic Opera. By 
John O'Keefe. Covent Garden, 1793. Afterwards acted under 
the title of " The Rival Soldiers." 

Captain Copp, in " Charles the Second." Comedy. By John 
Howard Payne. 

La Flenr, in "Animal Magnetism." Farce. By Elizabeth 
Inchbald. Covent Garden, 1788. Of French Origin. 

Job Thombury, in "John Bull." Comedy. By George Col- 
man, Jr. Covent Garden, 1805. 

Sir Hugh Evans, in Shakespeare's comedy of " The Merry 
Wives of Windsor." 

Gregory, in " The Mock Doctor, or the Dumb Lady Cured." 
Farce. By Henry Fielding. Drury Lane, 1732. 

This piece was taken from " Le Medecin malgre Lui," by 
Moliere, — which work was originally named " Le Fagotier." 
The story is that the wife of a wood-cutter, in order to be re- 
venged on her husband, for his ill-treatment of her, told two 
strangers that he was a learned physician, who would not, 
however, give his medical knowledge and care, until he had 
been soundly thrashed ; whereupon they compelled him to 
attempt the cure of a girl who had been feigning dumbness in 
order to avoid an obnoxious marriage, and, ultimately, to assist 
in an elopement. The situations in " The Mock Doctor" had 
previously been used, in "Love's Contrivance" (1703), by 



JEFFERSOX THE SECOXD. 93 

Susanna Centlivre, and "The Dumb Lady" (1672), by John 
Lacy. The subject is treated in an opera by Gounod, produced 
at the Theatre Lyrique, Paris, January 15th, 1S5S, and at the 
Princess's Theatre, London, early in 1S65. It is related that 
David Garrick, before he finally decided to adopt the dramatic 
profession, chose this play of " The Mock Doctor," to test 
his powers. The particulars of this incident are given as 
follows : " The place was the room over St. John's Gate, Clerken- 
well. The stage was improvised, and suitable decorations were 
provided for the occasion. The time was soon after Garrick's 
friend and tutor Samuel Johnson had formed a close intimacy 
with Cave, the printer and publisher of the 'Gentleman's Maga- 
zine,' and while Garrick was still in the wine trade with his 
brother Peter, and secretly meditating a withdrawal from it, in 
order to adopt the congenial, but in the opinion of his friends 
the disreputable, calling of an actor. The audience was com- 
posed, first of Cave himself, who, though not a man given to 
mirth, or with an idea beyond his printing presses, had been 
tickled by Johnson's description of his young townsman's 
powers, and was willing to try the experiment on his risibility. 
Then there was the burly lexicographer, — in those days very 
shabby and seedy indeed, but proudly battling his way in the 
world, and not a little elated by reflecting on the figure which 
the boys, who had enjoyed with him and Garrick the advantage 
of being flogged and taught by Mr. Hunter of Litchfield, were 
likely to make in it. Several of Cave's literary handicraftsmen 
were doubtless among the audience : Webb, the enigma writer, 
Derrick, the pen-cutter, and ' Tobacco ' Browne, whose serious 
poetry even the religious Johnson himself confessed he was un- 
able to read with patience. The actors who assisted Garrick 
were some of Cave's journeymen printers, who had for the time 
laid aside their composing sticks, and read or recited the parts 
allotted to them as best they could. Garrick, of course, played 
the involuntary physician Gregory, as Fielding renamed him ; 
and we have all read how Johnson, in his later years, returning 
from the Mitre, or the Cheshire Cheese, with Boswell, in the 
early morning, would grasp the street-post by Temple Gate, and 



94 THE JEFFERSONS. 

send forth a peal of laughter, which echoed and re-echoed 
through the silent streets, as he recalled the irresistible humor 
of his clever friend little Davy." These associations give a 
literary interest to Fielding's adaptation of Moliere's piece. 

First Witch, in " Macbeth." 

Dr. Fetitqueue, in " The Toothache." Farce. By John 
Bray. 

Pedro, in " Cinderella." Pantomine. 

The singular and interesting coincidence is recorded 
of Joseph Jefferson and Euphemia Fortune that they 
were born on the same day of the same month and 
year, — one in England, the other in America. Their 
marriage proved fortunate and happy. They were 
blessed with no less than nine children (Cowell errone- 
ously says thirteen), and the death of the husband fol- 
lowed that of the wife within eighteen months. All 
their children, with two exceptions, adopted the stage. 
It will be convenient to give in this place a brief sum- 
mary statement of the record of these descendants, pre- 
mising that one of the children died in infancy : — 

i. Thomas, the eldest son, went on the stage in his four- 
teenth year, rose to a good position, and died, in 1824, at the 
age of twenty-seven. Was never married. 

2. Joseph. This was* Jefferson the Third (1804- 1842), and 
his career is made the subject of a separate chapter. 

3. John was accounted the most brilliant of this family. He 
was remarkably handsome and athletic. He received a careful 
education, and he displayed astonishing and versatile talents. 
Had he lived, and continued to progress, he would have become 
a great actor ; but he was prematurely broken clown by convivi- 
ality, and he died very suddenly at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 
1831, aged twenty-three. 

4. Euphemia, the favorite daughter of Jefferson the Second, 



JEFFERSON THE SECOND. 95 

is remembered on the stage as correct and pleasing. She mar- 
ried William Anderson, — described by Ludlow as "a good ac- 
tor in heavy characters, tragedy villains and the like," — but he 
was a worthless person, and he embittered her life. This mar- 
riage was a sad blow to her father. She was a member of the 
dramatic company at the New York Park Theatre in 1816, and 
of .the Chestnut Street Theatre, Philadelphia, in 1817. " Mrs. An- 
derson, late Miss Jefferson," says Wood, in his " Personal Recol- 
lections," "was now added to the company, and shortly reached 
a high place in public favor." She died in 1831, leaving two 
daughters, Jane and Elizabeth. — Jane Anderson came out at 
the Franklin Theatre, New York, August 15th, 1836, as Sally Gig- 
gle, in " Catching an Heiress." She has had a bright career on the 
stage, and is a superior representative of old women. She be- 
came Mrs. G. C. Germon, and has long been a resident of Bal- 
timore. Miss Effie Germon, born at Augusta, Georgia, on 
June 13th, 1840, and now the sparkling soubrette of Wallack's 
Theatre, is her daughter, and thus a descendant of Jefferson 
the First. The father, G. C. Germon, the original Uncle Tom, 
died at Chicago, in April, 1854, aged thirty-eight. — Elizabeth 
Anderson came out at the Franklin Theatre, August 1st, 1836, 
as Mrs. Nicely, and she also has had a good theatrical career. 
This lady was married, in 1837, to Mr. Jacob Thoman, and sub- 
sequently, as Mrs. Thoman, she became a favorite in Boston. 
She accompanied Mr. Thoman to California, where she obtained 
a divorce from him ; and afterwards she again married, becom- 
ing Mrs. Saunders. She is still living. Both Jane and Eliza- 
beth Anderson had played, as early as 1831, in the theatre at 
Washington, managed by their uncle Joseph (Jefferson the 
Third). Elizabeth, although very young, acted old women. She 
was at the Walnut Street Theatre, Pa., in 1835. — William 
Anderson, the father of these girls, after a career of painful 
irregularity, ending in indigence, died, in 1869, at a hospital in 
Philadelphia. Cowell remarks that Jemmy Bland's* answer — 
when adrift in the words — to the question, " Who is this Cori- 
olanus?" describes Anderson exactly: "Why, he's a fellow 
who is always going about grumbling, and making everybody 
uncomfortable." 



96 THE JEFFERSONS. 

5. Hester became Mrs. Alexander Mackenzie, first wife 
of the noted actor and manager of that name, in the West. 
Mackenzie was a cousin to Joseph Nea], author of "Charcoal 
Sketches." Mrs. Mackenzie rose to a good position as an ac- 
tress of old women. Her death occurred at Nashville, Ten- 
nessee, February 3d, 1845. 

6. Elizabeth, Mrs. Chapman-Richardson-Fisher. A bril- 
liant and popular actress at the New York Park, in its great days. 
Her career is sketched in a separate chapter. 

7. Mary Anne. She became the wife of David Ingersoll, 
a tragedian, of Philadelphia, who died at St. Louis in 1837, aged 
twenty-five. She subsequently married James S. Wright, 
for many years the prompter at Wallack's Theatre. This lady 
was a member of the Bowery Theatre company, New York, in 
1834, and she has been a favorite in theatres on the western 
circuit. For many years, however, she has not acted. 

8. Jane is remembered as a lovable girl, kind, quiet, domes- 
tic, and devoted to her family. She never went on the stage, 
but died in girlhood, aged only seventeen, in 1831. 

Lives that do not imprint themselves strongly on the 
passing age are lost so quickly and so irretrievably that it 
seems as if they never had existed. There is something 
almost forlorn in the few slight and scattered memorials 
that remain of these persons ; all of them at one time 
signed with a brilliant name, and actuated, no doubt, 
by a high ambition. Thomas Jefferson, as a lad, came 
out at the Park Theatre, New York, on May 27th, 1803, 
as the Boy, in "The Children in the Wood," — drama 
by Thomas Morton, the music by Dr. Arnold, first acted 
at the London Haymarket, in 1793, — and he was 
seen at the Chestnut, Philadelphia, January 1st, 1806, 
as Cupid, in the pantomime of " Cinderella," his father 
playing Pedro and his mother Thisbc ; but his first im- 



JEFFERSON THE SECOND. 97 

portant effort was made on October 7th, 181 1, in his 
fifteenth year. The play was "The Merry Wives of 
Windsor." Warren acted Falstaff, Jefferson Sir Hugh 
Evans, Blissett Dr. Cams, Mackenzie Ford, and young 
Thomas Jefferson came on as Master Slender. The 
result was recorded by a contemporary writer, Mr. S. 
C. Carpenter, the "Dramatic Censor" of " The Mirror 
of Taste" (Vol. IV., p. 297) : "The chief novelty of 
the night and on many accounts a most pleasing one, 
was Mr. Jefferson's eldest son, in Master Slender. . . . 
A fine boy, and the son of one of the greatest favorites 
of the people of Philadelphia. . . . There was no blind, 
undistinguishing enthusiasm exhibited on the occasion. 
. . . The audience chose rather to reserve their praise 
till it would do the youth substantial credit by being 
bestowed only on desert • and in the full truth of severe 
criticism we declare that of the loud applause bestowed 
upon the boy there was not a plaudit which he did not 
deserve. From this juvenile specimen we are disposed 
to believe that he inherits the fine natural talents of his 
father." 

In 1817 the three brothers, Thomas, John, and Jo- 
seph, acted together, in "Valentine and Orson." 

In 1 82 1 Mr. James H. Caldwell, the pioneer man- 
ager of the Southwest, — after old man-Drake, as the 
actors used to call him, and likewise after the veteran 
Ludlow, — had a good dramatic company at Peters- 
burg, Virginia, of which " Mr. Jefferson," probably 
Thomas, was a member. This troupe included, says 
James Rees, in his "Dramatic Authors," p. 58, Mr. and 
Mrs. Hughes, Mr. and Mrs. Hutton, Mr. and Mrs. Rus- 



98 THE JEFFERSOXS. 

sell, Mr. Gray, Mr. Ludlow, Mr. Jefferson, Mr. CafTerty, 
Mr. Benton, Mr. West, Mr. Scholes, Mrs. Anderson, 
Miss Tilden, and Miss Eliza Placide. 

The cause of the untimely death of Thomas Jefferson 
was an accident which happened to him on the stage, 
when he was doing a service for a brother actor. This 
was the vocalist and comedian John Darley (1780- 
1858), father of the distinguished artist Mr. Felix O. C. 
Darley, both of whose parents were ornaments of the 
early American theatre ; his mother being Miss Ellen 
Westray. Darley was playing Paul, in the opera of 
"Paul and Virginia," and, feeling averse to making the 
leap from the rock, he asked young Jefferson to make 
it for him. The youth, who was playing the slave Al- 
hambra, acceded to this request, plunged from the 
scenic precipice, and in so doing broke a blood-vessel 
in his lungs. This injury resulted in consumption ; and, 
after a lingering illness, he expired in Philadelphia on 
September 16th, 1824. "He. had been afflicted for 
some time," said a 'writer in the " National Intelligen- 
cer " of the 21st, "with a pulmonary complaint, which 
he bore with fortitude. His end was calm and re- 
signed. . . . His friends valued him ; their regret is 
mingled with the tears of his family ; and his remem- 
brance is drawn on a tablet whence passing occurrences 
cannot easily efface it." Alas for the permanence of 
human achievement ! How completely effaced it is 
now ! 

Hester Jefferson (Mrs. Mackenzie) seems to have 
possessed the same ' patient and resigned nature. A 
Nashville journal, recording her death, says that "she 



JEFFERSON THE SECOND. 99 

bore a severe illness with Christian serenity," and that 
she was " a lady graced by many accomplishments, but 
still more by virtues which conciliated the esteem and 
affection of all who knew her." "There are many 
friends of her late father," adds this obituary tribute, 
" and of his family, in different parts of the Union, to 
whom this brief notice will recall many affecting asso- 
ciations. It will be a solace to them to know that she 
passed to the portals of the tomb in the full and joyous 
assurance of a blessed immortality." 

The Chestnut Street Theatre, established by Thomas 
Wignell in 1792-94, was destroyed by fire in April, 
1820, and all the accumulations of the finest dra- 
matic temple in America were lost. It was rebuilt and 
reopened, but it seems never to have recovered its for- 
mer glory. A change in the public taste as to theatrical 
matters was also maturing at about that time, and play- 
ers, both women and men, who had long been favor- 
ites, were losing their hold upon popularity, in the 
gradual waning of the generation to which they be- 
longed. Jefferson, now a frequent sufferer from hered- 
itary gout, had begun somewhat to decline, alike in 
personal strength and popular favor. During the sea- 
son of 182 1, Jefferson, Francis, Wheatley, and others 
of the Chestnut company, were ill almost one third of 
the time, and could not appear. In the season of 
1823-24, at Baltimore, Jefferson was ill nine nights, 
and did not act. The final scenes of his life's drama 
were being ushered in by these warnings of decay. 
Wood refers to unfriendly machinations against himself, 
which presently parted him from Warren, who was thus 



100 THE JEFFERSONS. 

left alone in the management, in 1826; and thereafter 
the business grew worse and worse, the receipts falling 
as low as $98, $90, $61.50, and even $20.75 a night, till 
at last Warren left the theatre, utterly ruined, in 1829. 
"Jefferson's last benefit," writes Wood, " took place on 
the 23d of December, 1829, and, being suddenly an- 
nounced, failed to attract his old admirers to the house. 
He was now infirm and in ill spirits from domestic dis- 
tresses, as well as the breaking up of the old manage- 
ment, and the gloomy professional prospects which that 
event placed before him. The play, ' A School for 
Grown Children,' had originally failed here, being re- 
markably local, and proved a singularly bad choice." 
[This was a comedy by Morton, which Burton once 
gave in New York, under the borrowed name of " Be- 
gone Dull Care."] 

Similar testimony is borne by Wemyss : " Jefferson, 
whose benefit was announced with the new play of 'A 
School for Grown Children,' could scarcely muster 
enough to pay the expenses, and resolved to leave the 
theatre. The manager, having demanded and received 
the full amount of his nightly charge on such occasions, 
offered him but half his income, at the treasury on Sat- 
urday. This was a blow the favorite comedian could not 
brook. The success of Sloman, an actor so greatly his 
inferior, had irritated him both with his manager and 
the audience. But what must have been the apathy of 
the public towards dramatic representation, when such* 
a man, whose reputation shed lustre on the theatre to 
which he was attached, was permitted to leave the city 
of Philadelphia with scarcely an inquiry as to his where- 



JEFFERSON THE SECOND. IOI 

abouts ; two thirds of the audience ignorant of his de- 
parture ! The last time he acted in Philadelphia was 
for my benefit, kindly studying the part of Sir Bashful 
Constant, in 'The Way to Keep Him,' * which he played 
admirably." 

That useful but disagreeable book of reminiscences 
(already cited), " Thirty Years Passed Among the 
Players in England and America," by Joseph Cowell, 
(1844), contains a kindred reference to the last days 
and the character of Jefferson. Cowell was the father 
of Samuel Cowell, the well-remembered actor and 
comic singer, and of Sydney Frances Cowell, who, as 
Mrs. Hezekiah L. Bateman, became known as a dra- 
matic author, and as the mother of " the Bateman 
Children " ; Kate, Ellen, and Virginia. Cowell suc- 
ceeded Wood, as stage manager of the Chestnut, and it 
is to this period he refers, in the eighth chapter of his 
second volume, when writing of Jefferson : — 

" Jefferson was the low comedian, and had been for 
more than five and twenty years. Of course he was a 
most overwhelming favorite, though at this time drops 
of pity for fast coming signs of age and infirmity began 
to be freely sprinkled with the approbation long habit 
more than enthusiasm now elicited. . . . Literally born 
on the stage, he brought with him to this country the 
experience of age with all the energy of youth, and 

* " The Way to Keep Him." Comedy, by Arthur Murphy : Drury 
Lane, 1761. "Sir Bashful Constant is a gentleman who, though pas- 
sionately fond of his wife, yet from a fear of being laughed at by the gay 
world for uxoriousness, is perpetually assuming the tyrant, and treating 
her, at least before company, with great unkindness." — W. W. 



102 THE JEFFERSONS. 

in the then infant state of the drama, his superior tal- 
ent, adorned by his most exemplary private deport- 
ment, gave him lasting claims to the respect and grati- 
tude, both of the profession and its admirers. And, 
perhaps, on some such imaginary reed he placed too 
much dependence ; for the whole range of the drama 
cannot, probably, furnish a more painful yet perfect ex- 
ample of the mutability of theatrical popularity than 
Joseph Jefferson. 

" When Warren left the management, younger, not 
better, actors were brought in competition with the vet- 
eran, and the same audience that had actually grown 
up laughing at him alone, as if they had been mistaken 
in his talent all this time suddenly turned their smiles 
on foreign faces ; and, to place their changed opinion 
past a doubt, his benefits, which had never produced 
less than twelve or fourteen hundred dollars, and often 
sixteen, fell down to less than three. Wounded in 
pride, and ill prepared in pocket for this sudden reverse 
of favor and fortune, he bade adieu forever to Phila- 
delphia. With the aid of his wife and children he 
formed a travelling company, and wandered through 
the smaller towns of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Vir- 
ginia, making Washington his headquarters.* Kindly 

* The comedian had long been accustomed to make periodical trips 
to Washington, and he knew his ground, therefore, on going into exile. 
" Washington city," says the same writer ["Thirty Years," Vol. II. 
chap. 10], " could then (1827) boast of only a very small theatre, in a 
very out-of-the-way situation, and. used by Warren and Wood as a sort 
of summer retreat for their company, where the disciples of Izaak Wal- 
ton, with old Jefferson at their head, could indulge their fishing pro- 
pensities." . . . — W. W. 



JEFFERSON THE SECOND. 103 

received and respected everywhere, his old age might 
still have passed in calm contentment, but that ' one 
woe did tread upon another's heel, so fast they fol- 
lowed.' His daughter, Mrs. Anderson, and his youngest, 
Jane, died in quick succession, after torturing hope 
with long and lingering disease. His son-in-law, Chap- 
man, was thrown from a horse, and the week following 
was in his grave. His son John, an excellent actor, 
performed for his father's benefit, at Lancaster, Pa., 
was well and happy, went home, fell in a fit, and was 
dead. And last, not least, to be named in this sad 
list, the wife of his youth, the mother of his thirteen 
children, the sharer of his joys and sorrows for six and 
thirty years, was ' torn from out his heart.' ' The spirit 
of a man will sustain his infirmity ; but a wounded spirit 
who can bear? ' " (Proverbs xviii. 14.) 

To Wood the dramatic inquirer is indebted for an 
account of the closing days and the death of Jefferson, 
containing discriminative observations on his character, 
and such touches of color as are only to be conveyed 
in his own language. Though a cold and crabbed man, 
and more readily censorious than sympathetic, Wood 
has no word for Jefferson, except of profound respect 
and cordial kindness. " At an early age Jefferson antici- 
pated the inheritance of his father's complaint (gout), 
and vainly endeavored, by a life of the severest care 
and regimen, to escape its assaults. For many years 
the attacks were slight, but with increasing age they 
increased also, and at length became so frequent and 
violent as to undermine his health and spirits. The de- 
cline of Warren's fortunes greatly distressed him. His 



104 THE JEFFERSONS. 

associates of thirty years were disappearing from his 
side, and he retired suddenly from a stage of which for 
a quarter of a century he had been the delight, orna- 
ment, and boast. Like Warren he seemed unable to 
witness a ruin which he felt was inevitable, and he left 
Philadelphia forever. ... I unexpectedly met him, 
subsequently, at Washington. He was engaged, along 
with John Jefferson, Dwyer, Mills, and Brown, in a tem- 
porary establishment, the manager of which had invited 
Mrs. Wood and myself to a short star engagement. 
The company was sufficiently strong to present a few 
plays creditably, but could not have afforded either a 
suitable recompense or scene for his remarkable and 
finished powers. On the benefit night of Mrs. Wood 
and me, our final night at Washington, Jefferson roused 
himself to an effort which astonished us. Though now 
grown old and dispirited, and with a theatre very differ- 
ent from the one which had formerly inspired his 
efforts, his performance of Sir Peter Teazle in ' The 
School for Scandal,' and of Drugget, in ' Three Weeks 
After Marriage,' was nearly equal to his finest and 
early efforts. This was the last time we ever met. I 
understood, that, after this, he became engaged with a 
company at the town of Harrisburg, Pa., and appeared 
occasionally. Of course any theatrical company must 
have been small and very imperfectly established 
in such a village. Many and severe domestic af- 
flictions were added to his bodily sufferings, and, 
worn out with physical and mental distress, he there 

closed his pure and blameless life There never 

was at any time, on any subject, the least estrangement 



JEFFERSON THE SECOND. 1 05 

between Jefferson and myself. On the contrary, our 
personal, not less than our professional, intercourse was 
for thirty years or more an unbroken circle of regard 

and pleasure. It remained so to the end of it 

Nobody of just feelings could know Jefferson as long 
and intimately as I knew him, and have any estrange- 
ment with him about anything ; for he was a man at 

once just, discreet, unassuming, and amiable 

As a citizen little was known of him. Studious and se- 
cluded in his habits, and surrounded by a numerous 
family, he had neither the wish nor leisure for general 
society. A few select friends and the care of his chil- 
dren occupied the hours hardly snatched from his pro- 
fessional duties. He felt an unconquerable dislike to 
the degradation of being exhibited as the merry-maker 
of a dinner party,* and sometimes offended by his per- 
severance on this point. He was frequently heard to 
observe that for any dinner entertainments there were 
plenty of amateur amusers to be found, without ex- 
hausting the spirits and powers of actors who felt them- 
selves pledged to reserve their best professional efforts 
for the public who sustained them. To an excellent 
ear for music, he added no inconsiderable pretensions 
as a painter and machinist. Incapable alike of feeling 
or inspiring enmity, he passed nearly thirty years of 
theatrical life in harmony and comfort. It is painful to 
contrast those with the misfortunes of his later years, 
the result of the miserable schemes of amateur direc- 
tion in our theatre, which ended in its total breaking up 

* This was also true of his contemporary and associate, Francis 
Blissett, and the same trait shows itself in the character of Jefferson the 
Fourth. — W. W. 



106 THE JEFFERSONS. 

and in sending upon the world, in their old age, almost 
the whole body of its long settled and respectable 
company. 

' Hard was his fate, for he was not to blame. 
There is a destiny in this strange world 
Which oft decrees an undeserved doom — 
Let schoolmen tell us why.'" 

One of the best existing descriptions of Jefferson as 
an actor is contained in the following passage from 
Wemyss : — 

" Joseph Jefferson was an actor formed in nature's 
merriest mood — a genuine son of Momus. There 
was a vein of rich humor running through all he did, 
which forced you to laugh, despite of yourself. He dis- 
carded grimace as unworthy of him, although no actor 
possessed a greater command over the muscles of his 
own face or the faces of his audience, — compelling 
you to laugh or cry, at his pleasure. His excellent 
personation of old men acquired for him, before he 
had reached the meridian of life, the title of ' Old Jef- 
ferson.' The astonishment of strangers at seeing a 
good-looking young man pointed out in the street as 
Jefferson, whom they had seen the night previous at 
the theatre, tottering apparently on the verge of exist- 
ence, was the greatest compliment which could be paid 
to the talent of the actor. His versatility was astonish- 
ing — light comedy, old men, pantomime, and occa- 
sionally juvenile tragedy. Educated in the very best 
school for acquiring knowledge in his profession, . . . 
Jefferson was an adept in all the trickery of the stage, 
which, when it suited his purpose, he could turn to ex- 
cellent account. He was the reigning favorite of the 



JEFFERSON THE SECOND. 1 07 

Philadelphia Theatre for a longer period than any other 
actor ever attached to the city, and left it with a repu- 
tation all might envy. In his social relations he was 
the model of what a gentleman should be, — a kind 
husband, an affectionate father, a warm friend, and a 
truly honest man. He died at Harrisburg, where he 
had been playing at his son's theatre, but no stone 
marks the spot where moulder the remains of one of 
the brightest ornaments of his profession. ' Alas, poor 
Yorick ! '" 

This was published in 1848, and the statement as to 
Jefferson's grave was, no doubt, made from memory, 
and without verification. The neglect thus regretted 
had, in fact, been reverently repaired. Jefferson was 
buried in the grounds of the Episcopal church at Har- 
risburg, in the rear of the building ; and there, in 1 843, 
a memorial stone was placed over him by Judge Gibson* 
and Judge Rogers, of the Supreme Court of Pennsyl- 

* John Bannister Gibson. — This name is distinguished as that 
of a jurist of high ability and rank. He was a native of Pennsylvania, 
born in 1 780, being the son of Lieutenant-Colonel Gibson, who was killed 
in battle with the savage Indians, in St. Clair's expedition against them, 
in 1791. He was admitted to the bar in 1803, and subsequently was 
several times elected to the State legislature. In 181 3 he was appointed 
presiding Judge of one of the judicial districts of Pennsylvania, and in 
1816 he became Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of that State. 
In 1827 he became Chief Justice, succeeding Judge Tilghman. He was 
deprived of his seat in 1851, when a change in the Constitution of Penn- 
sylvania made the judiciary an elective institution, — an impolitic, fool- 
ish, and pernicious arrangement whenever and wherever adopted. He 
was, however, elected an Associate Justice in the same year. He died 
in Philadelphia in 1S53, having been eminent on the bench for forty 
years. An elequent eulogy on him was delivered by Chief Justice Jere- 
miah Black, which may be found in the seventh volume of Harris's 
Pennsylvania State Reports. — W. W. 



108 THE JEFFERSONS. 

vania. The inscription on this tablet, written by Judge 
Gibson, is as follows : — 



BENEATH THIS MARBLE 
ARE DEPOSITED THE ASHES OF 

JOSEPH JEFFERSON: 

AN ACTOR WHOSE UNRIVALLED POWERS 

TOOK IN THE WHOLE RANGE OF COMIC CHARACTER, 

FROM PATHOS TO SOUL-SHAKING MIRTH. 

HIS COLORING OF THE PART WAS THAT OF NATURE, — WARM, 

PURE, AND FRESH ; 

BUT OF NATURE ENRICHED WITH THE FINEST CONCEPTIONS OF 

GENIUS. 

HE WAS A MEMBER OF THE CHESTNUT STREET THEATRE, 

PHILADELPHIA, 

IN ITS MOST HIGH AND PALMY DAYS, 

AND THE COMPEER 

OF COOPER, WOOD, WARREN, FRANCIS, 

AND A LONG LIST OF WORTHIES 

WHO, 

LIKE HIMSELF, 

ARE REMEMBERED WITH ADMIRATION AND PRAISE. 

HE WAS A NATIVE OF ENGLAND. 

WITH AN UNBLEMISHED REPUTATION AS A MAN, 

HE CLOSED A CAREER OF PROFESSIONAL SUCCESS, 

IN CALAMITY AND AFFLICTION, 

AT THIS PLACE, 

IN THE YEAR 1 832. 

" I knraj him Horatio : a fellow of infinite jest ; of most 
excellent fancy." 



JEFFERSON THE SECOND. 109 

There is an authentic tradition that the clergyman 
who read the burial service of the Church of England 
over the remains of Jefferson, knowing that he had been 
an actor, and stupidly disapproving of that circumstance, 
actually altered the text of the ritual, substituting the 
phrase "this man" for "our deceased brother," in 
the solemn passage beginning " Forasmuch as it hath 
pleased Almighty God, in his wise Providence, to take 
out of this world the soul of our deceased brother, we 
therefore commit his body to the ground — earth to 
earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust." This proceeding, 
which was observed at the time, and which can only 
be viewed as a petty act of bigotry and profanation, 
done with deliberate intent to cast a sort of ecclesiasti- 
cal indignity upon the dead, has been remembered by 
the descendants of the noble and blameless person 
whose dust was thus assailed. The present Joseph 
Jefferson, whose spotless character and beneficent life 
are their own sufficient praise, is not a member of the 
church. It is by acts like this, with which its history 
has often been sullied, that the church has suffered the 
alienation of thousands of as good and true hearts as 
ever lived. 

After resting nearly forty years, the remains of Jef- 
ferson the Second were removed from the Episcopal 
churchyard to the Harrisburg cemetery, and again laid 
in the earth. The same stone which marked their first 
sepulchre marks now their final place of repose. This 
disturbance of them was compelled, through the con- 
version of a part of the churchyard into a building plot. 
In the absence of the present Jefferson, the removal to 



IIO THE JEFFERSONS. 

a temporary lodgement was effected by Attorney-Gen- 
eral Brewster and Senator Cameron, of Pennsylvania ; 
but on returning from abroad, Jefferson personally ad- 
justed this matter, and supervised the final burial. 

A Philadelphia writer, whose name is unknown, gives 
this glimpse of the personal appearance of the old co- 
median : " He was scarcely of medium height, not cor- 
pulent, elderly, with clear and searching eyes, a rather 
large and pointed nose, and an agreeable general ex- 
pression. But never was a human face more plastic. 
His natural recognition of each personage in the mimic 
scene, his interest in all that was addressed to him, the 
plan or purpose of what he had to say, his coaxing, 
quizzing, wheedling, domineering, and grotesque effects, 
were all complete without the utterance of words ; yet 
it was said that in these particulars he never twice ren- 
dered a scene in precisely the same manner. In sing- 
ing, his voice was a rich baritone, and in speech it was 
naturally the same. He was so perfect an artist that, 
although always faithful to his author, he could, by 
voice or face or gesture, make a point at every exit." 

Jefferson the Second resided for many years in a 
modest house at No. 10 Powell Street, Philadelphia. 
This is still standing, but a change in the enumeration 
of the houses in that street has made it number 510. 
In company with Jefferson the fourth, the present 
writer visited this house, in September, 1880. Upon 
Mr. Jefferson's saying that his grandfather once lived 
there, the occupants courteously invited us to enter, 
and we passed a little time in the rooms on the second 
floor, which the comedian distinctly remembered as 



JEFFERSON THE SECOND. Ill 

associated with his ancestor. He recalled having been 
held up at the front window, a child in his grandfather's 
arms, to watch the heavy raindrops pattering in the 
pools of water in the street below, — which drops the old 
gentleman told him were silver pieces, and said he should 
presently go down and pick them up. This anecdote, 
told then and there, seemed very suggestive of the kind, 
playful nature always ascribed to " Old Jefferson." 

There was a strong personal resemblance between 
President Jefferson and the comedian, and this indica- 
tion confirmed their mutual belief that they had sprung 
from the same stock. They were friendly acquaint- 
ances, and occasionally met ; but the actor, who shrunk 
with honorable pride from even the appearance of court- 
ing the favor of the great, was always shy of accepting 
the attentions of the President. A book had appeared, 
written by an Englishman, in which it was asserted, in 
a spirit of ridicule, that the President of the United 
States, while in the morning he would write State pa- 
pers and attend to the affairs of the nation, could at 
night be always seen at the theatre, with a red wig on 
his head, bowing his thanks for the applause that he 
got while making the people laugh in a farce. This was 
sufficiently childish satire, and it is not to be supposed 
that any person seriously regarded it. Yet the barb 
underlying it was not wholly without its effect on the 
sensitive nature of the comedian. He entertained a 
profound respect for the Republican ideas of his adopted 
country, and for the exalted office of its chief magis- 
trate ; and this, conjoined with the self-respecting dig- 
nity of his character, made him extremely punctilious 



112 THE JEFFERSOXS. 

as to all social intercourse outside of his own class and 
rank. The President and himself were not able to trace 
their positive relationship, but both believed it to exist, 
although the ancestry of the former was Welsh, while 
that of the latter was English. The actor, however, 
said that his gratification in their alliance would be 
marred if the matter were made known, as an avowal 
of it might be misunderstood. President Jefferson, 
on one occasion, presented to the actor a court-dress, 
as a mark of his respect and admiration. This was 
highly valued by the recipient, and was left by him 
to his son Joseph (Jefferson the Third), who also in- 
herited Garrick's Abel Drugger wig. These relics 
formed part of the wardrobe intrusted by Jefferson the 
Third to Joseph Cowell, and by him stored in the St. 
Charles Theatre, New Orleans, which — as mentioned 
in a previous chapter — was burnt and destroyed, with 
all its contents, on Sunday night, March 13th, 1842. 

One of the biographers of President Jefferson de- 
scribes that remarkable man in language which might 
almost equally well apply to the great actor who was his 
contemporary : " He was a tender husband and father, 
a mild master, a warm friend, and a delightful host. 
His knowledge of life, extensive travels, and long famil- 
iarity with great events and distinguished men rendered 
his conversation highly attractive to mere social visitors. 
His scientific acquisitions and the deep interest which 
he took in all branches of natural history made his so- 
ciety equally agreeable to men of learning. Many such 
visited him, and were impressed as deeply by his gen- 
eral knowledge as they were by the courtesy of his de- 



JEFFERSON THE SECOND. I 13 

The American Republic to which Jefferson emigrated 
was, of course, very different from the Republic of to- 
day. It contained but sixteen of the States which now 
compose it, together with the District of Columbia ; and 
the entire population of the country was less than five 
millions. This was in 1795.* The city of New York, 
as late as 1807, contained scarcely more than 80,000 
persons. Jefferson made his advent during the second 
term of the presidency of Washington, and, living 
through the terms of Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Mon- 
roe, and J. Q. Adams, died in the first term of Jack- 
son. There is room for much reflection, by the student 
of theatrical history, on the changed conditions under 
which the dramatic profession is now pursued, as con- 
trasted with the circumstances that surrounded the act- 
ors of Jefferson's time. 

It is the privilege of the biographer now to present a 
compendium of personal recollections of her father and 
other relatives, furnished to him by Elizabeth Jeffer- 
son (Mrs. Chapman-Richardson-Fisher), the daughter 
of Jefferson the Second. They were written in the 
form of rough memoranda, styled " Notes from Mem- 
ory," and they were found to require editorial revision. 
The present writer, accordingly, with the permission of 
the venerable lady who has thus graciously obliged him 
with these reminiscences, has carefully paraphrased her 
narrative, — preserving her facts, strictly adhering to the 
spirit of her statements, and, wherever possible, using 
her words. Mrs. Fisher, now a resident of St. John's, 

* The American period surveyed by this biography is eighty-six years, 
— from 1795 to 1881. — W. W. 



114 THE JEFFERSONS. 

Newfoundland, is upwards of seventy years of age 
(1881), and is one of the last remaining ties that link 
the present period to a most intellectual epoch in the 
history of the American stage. Her life, of which an 
account is furnished in the next chapter of this memoir, 
has been one romantic tragedy, teeming with honor, 
but marred with a succession of calamitous misfortunes. 
Her recollections are, as follows : — 



REMINISCENCES OF ELIZABETH JEFFERSON. 

" My father was genial and social, but quiet and re- 
served in manner. He never allowed theatrical mat- 
ters to be discussed in his presence ; not from any dis- 
like of his profession, but because his life was so entirely 
wrapt up in it that he needed relief from reference to 
the subject of his constant study and thought. 

" Hodgkinson was most liberal to my father in 
professional business, and in a very little time after 
they came together gave up to him the low-comedy 
parts. This soon made him a leading feature of the 
John Street Theatre, and a great favorite with the pub- 
lic. One night, when it chanced that his first child ^ 
was very ill, he had gone to the theatre much depressed, 
though not apprehensive of bereavement. While dress- 
ing himself for a farce, he received news that his child 
was dead. The love of children was a ruling passion 
with my father, and to lose his own and (then) only 
one, was an overwhelming grief. Hodgkinson went 
before the curtain to state the reason of the delay 



JEFFERSON THE SECOND. 115 

that had been caused by this news, and to beg of the 
audience to allow another farce to be substituted for 
the one announced ; but the whole house rose, and, 
with a cry of ' No farce ! ' left ■ the theatre. This was 
an unusual compliment. 

" Considerations of economy were among the rea- 
sons that induced my- father to remove from New York 
to Philadelphia, where his name became a household 
word. No man ever held more esteem and affection 
than followed him. His wife lived but in him ; his chil- 
dren idolized him; his servants worshipped, him ; his 
nature was one that inspired not only respect but love ; 
his fondness for children was extreme, and I have seen 
our parlor at home filled with little ones, — children 
of neighbors, whose names even he did not know, — 
but they flocked around him as if he were something 
more than mortal, and he never tired of amusing them. 
A great tease he was to them — but they preferred to 
be teased by him, rather than petted by others. 

" There was a simplicity in our household that I 
have seldom met with since. In affairs of business my 
father would often take us all into his council. One in- 
stance of this, which is singular and amusing, I partic- 
ularly recall. A neighbor of ours was in the habit of 
lending money at interest, — a proceeding which we 
had been taught to regard as almost as bad as rob- 
bery, — and a merchant of Philadelphia, who was in need 
of money, had come to him to borrow it. The usurer 
chanced to be insufficiently supplied, and he mentioned 
this exigency to my father, saying that a certain very 
high rate of interest could be obtained upon a loan. 



Il6 THE JEFFERSONS. 

My father answered that he would consider the propo- 
sition, and communicate his decision on the morrow. 
He then called a family council and apprised us of his 
opportunity to profit by usury. He dwelt long and 
earnestly on the merchant's distress. We all exclaimed 
• in horror against the idea. I vividly remember the im- 
pression I received that he was about to become a Shy- 
lock, and that he might be tempted to end by cutting 
a pound of flesh from the breast of the impoverished 
debtor. But we kept our father from that shocking crime, 
which, of course, he had not dreamed of an intention 
to commit, and blessed him that he was not a Shylock. 
His quiet, waggish way of enforcing a moral lesson was 
to be realized afterward in memory. I do not suppose 
that there ever was a man who lived more entirely 
unspotted from the world (James i. 27). 

" In matters relative to the stage he was scrupulously 
careful and thorough. His wigs were, with a few ex- 
ceptions, invented and made by himself. He hit upon 
the idea of a wig that should be practicable — the hair 
upon it rising at fright. He had undertaken a part in a 
piece entitled "The Farmer,"* but not being particu- 
larly struck by it, he set about the study of what could 
be done to strengthen it. It was then that he hit upon 
the expedient of making the wig do what the part 
was unqualified to accomplish, and he was richly repaid 
by the laughter of the audience. I was present, and I 
remember hearing the people all around me saying, 
' Now look at Jefferson's wig,' in a certain scene of the 
piece ; and, indeed, this comic wig saved the play. 

* "The Farmer." A musical farce, in two acts. By John O'Keefe, 
Covcnt Garden, 1787. — \Y. \Y. 



JEFFERSON THE SECOND. I 1 7 

" His varied talent was strained to every line of act- 
ing, except tragedy. On one occasion Mrs. Wood, * 
the leading lady of the Chestnut Street Theatre, and 
wife of the manager (William B. Wood), was joking 
with him, saying that he had mistaken his calling, and 
that his forte was tragedy, and she persuaded him 
to play for his benefit Old JVorval, in the Rev. John 
Home's tragedy of ' Douglas.' I have heard him de- 
clare that he really intended to act this part seriously, 
but he said that the audience had been so accustomed 
to laughing whenever he appeared that they would not 
accept him soberly, and when he made his entrance in 
this tragic character, he was greeted with a perfect 
yell of laughter. He tried to be solemn, but it was 
of no use. The spectators had determined to laugh 
at Jefferson, and laugh they did. Mrs. Wood always 
said that he did something on the sly to provoke the 
laughter, but he would not acknowledge this. I sus- 
pect him, though — for his sentimental acting, as it 
occasionally occurred in comedy, was touching and 
beautiful. 

" After my father's death, when I was alone in this 
part of the world (New York), I was requested to give 
permission for the removal of his remains from Harris- 
burg to Philadelphia, where it was said a monument 
should be erected to his memory. But, knowing what 
sorrow he had suffered at the neglect he received in 
Philadelphia, towards the end of his career, and know- 

* "January 30th, 1804. Married by the Rev. Dr. Abercrombie ; 
Mr. W. B. Wood, to Miss Juliana Westray, both of this theatre." — 
Wood's Personal Recollections, p. 101. 



Il8 THE JEFFERSONS. 

ing also his aversion to all disturbance of the grave, I 
refused to sanction this proceeding. His ideas were 
peculiar as to death. When I wished him to see my 
mother, after she was dead, he would not be persuaded. 
' How can you ask me,' he said, 'to turn with disgust 
from a face which for so many years has been my pride 
and my pleasure ? ' And until a year before his death 
he never saw a corpse. The first and only dead face 
he ever looked on was that of his son John. His wish 
was to be buried in a village churchyard, with no stone 
to mark the place. But this, it seems, could not be, for 
two of his old friends, judges of Pennsylvania, erected 
a stone at his head, in Harrisburg, where he died. 

" I never but once saw my father out of temper : 
and, indeed, he could not have borne to be so ; his nat- 
urally equable temper was essential to his health. Dur- 
ing Mr. Wemyss's* stage management of the Chestnut 
Street Theatre (1827-30), that gentleman went abroad 
to try to engage a company that in fact was not wanted. 
Among other importations that he brought back was 
Mr. John Sloman, a comic singer, together with his 
wife, as stars. Mr. Sloman was a good comic singer, 
but as an actor was execrable. In my father's con- 

* Francis Courtney Wemyss (1797-1859), author of the "The- 
atrical Biography," previously cited. In chapter xiii. of that work Mr. 
Wemyss refers to this subject, as follows : " We proceeded as usual to 
Baltimore for the spring season, and while there I was taken one morn- 
ing by surprise, by an offer from Mr. Warren to accept the acting and 
stage management of the theatres under his direction ; to cross the 
Atlantic, and recruit his dramatic company by engaging new faces from 
England. ... I therefore, on the 6th of May, 1827, made an engage- 
ment for three years with Mr. Warren. ... On the 20th of June I 
sailed from Philadelphia." — W. W. 



JEFFERSON THE SECOND. 119 

tract with the theatre it was expressly stipulated, and 
had been so for years, that all plays or farces in 
which he was desired to appear should be sent to him, 
so that he might choose his part. This arrangement 
seemed to hurt the self-love of some of the actors ; but, 
as it was a rule, Mr. Wemyss did not attempt to break 
it. Nevertheless, after Mr. Sloman had made a hit with 
his comic singing, Mr. Wemyss harbored the idea that 
the American public would accept him also as an ac- 
tor ; and so all the new pieces that came from England 
that season were given to Sloman, on the pretext 
that he was a new star, and that they were his own 
property. My father made no protest, feeling sure that 
neither Mr. Wemyss nor Mr. Sloman could depose him 
from his place in the public regard. On an occasion 
of Mr. Warren's benefit, Sloman volunteered his ser- 
vices, and my father was to act in a new farce. I was 
in the green-room that day, and I never shall forget my 
father's face when he saw the announcement. This 
proclaimed, first, a five-act tragedy ; then six succes- 
sive songs by Sloman ; then a farce for Sloman ; and, 
finally, his own feature, ' The Illustrious Stranger.' * 
Mr. Wemyss happened to enter the room at this mo- 
ment. My father said to him, very quietly, 'Good 
morning, sir ; that bill must be changed.' ' Why, Mr. 
Jefferson,' he replied, 'it is impossible : we could not 
have new bills printed by night.' ' I don't care what 
you do,' answered my father ; ' I want the order of 

* " The Illustrious Stranger, or Married and Buried." Musi- 
cal farce, in two acts. By James Kenney. Drury Lane, 1827. — 
W. W. 



120 THE JEFFERSONS. 

those pieces changed. I have spent time and thought 
upon my part, and, damn it, sir, I won't have it wasted.' 
The manager's face was a picture. An oath from the 
lips of Jefferson frightened us all; but his farce was 
placed immediately after the tragedy, and I remember 
that it was a success. I never heard my father use a 
profane word, except on that occasion. 

" The Chestnut Street Theatre was now declining in 
prosperity. Mr. Warren (my uncle) was soon declared 
insolvent. This new company, which his stage-man- 
ager (Mr. Wemyss) had engaged, was to have raised 
the theatre to the highest pinnacle of success ; but it 
proved, as sensible observers had feared, the ruin of 
the house.* My father's benefit, always good before 
this, now turned out a failure. Edwin Forrest, then 
the rising star, chanced to be acting at the Walnut. On 
my father's benefit night the opposition managers had 
put up Forrest's name for a benefit, and the young 
favorite proved the success. While we were sitting 
that day at dinner, a letter was brought from Forrest, 
stating that the writer had not been aware of the em- 
ployment of his name to oppose that of the elder actor, 
and that he hoped the blame might be laid where it 
was due ; and he offered to give my father a night, 
whenever he might choose to name the time, to prove 
his respect and appreciation. My father deemed the 
young actor somewhat presumptuous in taking so much 
for granted ; but a few hours sufficed to teach him the 

* The instructions to engage this company emanated from Mr. War- 
ren himself, of whose plans Mr. Wemyss was only the executor, not the 
originator. — W. W. 



JEFFERSON THE SECOND. 12 1 

bitter lesson of waning popularity. On the night of that 
last benefit in Philadelphia, he made up his mind to 
leave that city and never return to it. 

" At a later time, when my father was acting and 
managing in Washington, Forrest came there as a star, 
and he then actually refused one night's emolument. 
He had said that he would play one night for Jefferson, 
and he insisted on keeping his word. The money was 
sent after him when this was discovered, but he returned 
it, and positively refused to receive it. Efforts were 
made, from time to time, to induce my father to return 
to Philadelphia. Forrest's brother, at the Walnut, made 
him a most liberal offer, without conditions. W r emyss 
also came, offering anything. But this was in vain. 
The heart and the pride of the actor had been wounded 
to death. He never went back, and he soon died. ( 

" Of all my father's children the most talented was 
John. He was the pride of our family. A classical 
scholar, proficient also in the modern languages, a clever 
artist, an accomplished musician, a good caricaturist, 
an excellent actor, he was one of the most talented men 
of his day. Playing seconds to my father, he had caught 
his thoroughness of style without becoming a servile im- 
itator. He was a good singer and a graceful dancer. 
He possessed every attribute essential to an actor. 
But his attractive disposition and his brilliant talents 
soon gave him an exacting and perilous popularity. 
Gay company, and the dissipation that it caused, in- 
jured his health, though to the last he never was known 
to fail in professional duty. The last performance he 
ever gave was in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. When my 






122 THE JEFFERSONS. 

father left Philadelphia, John, who had acted both at 
the Chestnut and Walnut, resolved to turn manager, 
and, for some time after that, he managed theatres at 
Washington and Baltimore, making summer trips to 
Harrisburg, Lancaster, Pottsville, and other places. It 
was while we were playing at Lancaster that John died. 
The pieces that night were ' The School for Scandal ' 
and 'The Poor Soldier.' Part of the cast of the former 
was as follows : — 



Sir Peter Teazle . 
Sir Oliver Surface 
Rowley . . . 
Lady Teazle . 
Mrs. Candour . 
Lady Sneerwell 
Maria . . . 



Joseph Jefferson, Sr. 

John Jefferson. 

Joseph Jefferson, Jr. (the Third). 

Mrs. S. Chapman. 

Mrs. Joseph Jefferson, Jr. 

Miss Anderson. 

Miss Jefferson. 



" The Miss Anderson was the eldest daughter of my 
sister Euphemia ; the Miss Jefferson was my sister Mary 
Anne, now Mrs. Wright ; Mrs. S. Chapman was myself: 
so this was indeed a theatrical family party. In mount- 
ing the steps of the hotel, on our return from the per- 
formance, my brother John slipped on a bit of orange 
peel, and fell heavily, striking his head — the steps 
were of marble — and fracturing his skull. He was 
taken up insensible, and he never spoke again. My 
father never rallied from the shock of this calamity. In 
this son his chief hopes had been centred. He be- 
lieved that John was destined to great honor and fame, 
and that he would keep the name of Jefferson distin- 
guished upon the stage. After this my father refused 
to act in any of the plays in which John had been ac- 



JEFFERSON THE SECOND. 1 23 

customed to act with him, and in less than a year he, 
too, went to his long rest. 

" My nephew, Joseph Jefferson {Rip Van Winkle), 
bears a striking resemblance to my father. He was 
a wonderfully precocious child : all who remember 
his childhood say this. When little more than two 
years old he gave an imitation of Fletcher, the statue 
man, and it was indeed an astonishing feat. My 
mother chanced to notice the child in a corner of the 
room trying this experiment, and she called him to her 
side, and found that he had got all the " business " of 
the statues, though he could not have pronounced the 
name of one of them. She made him a dress, similar 
to that worn by Fletcher, and he actually gave these 
imitations upon the stage when only three years old.* 
Rice came to Washington to sing his Jim Crow songs, 
and little Joe caught them up directly, and, in his baby 
voice, sung the songs, although he could not correctly 
pronounce the words that he sung. His taste for draw- 
ing and painting showed itself at an early age. My 
father could not keep his drawing-box away from the 
boy. Joe was in his fourth year when my father died. 
The old gentleman idolized him. I remember his 
almost daily salutation would be, ' Joe, where 's my 
paint? ' ' It 's gone,' said the child. ' Yes, sir, I know 
it 's gone ; but where? where? ' ' Him lost,' was Joe's 
reply. ' Yes, sir, I know it 's lost and gone ; but how 
and where ? ' The boy would look up, roguishly, and 
say, ' Him hook um ' ; and then his grandfather would 

* At this age (three) he made his first appearance, having been taken 
on, at the Washington Theatre, as Cora's child, in " Pizarro." — W. W. 



124 THE JEFFERSONS. 

prophesy what a great artist that child would one 
day become, and say that he was ' the greatest boy 
in the world,' and let him destroy any amount of any- 
thing he chose. The inheritance of talent was never 
more clearly shown than in the case of the present 
Joseph Jefferson : his habits, his tastes, his acting, 
all he is and does seems just a reiteration of his 
grandfather." 

Note. — A few omissions of essential annotation in the foregoing 
chapter are repaired here. — Richard Suett died in 1805, at a ripe age. 
The date of his birth is not recorded. Anecdotes of him may be found 
in Bernard's " Retrospections." Charles Lamb says that " Shakespeare 
foresaw him when he framed his fools and jesters." — C. S. Powell, the 
Boston manager, died in Halifax, in 1810. S. Powell, his brother, died 
in Boston, April Sth, 1821, aged sixty-three. — The old Chestnut Street 
Theatre was situated in Chestnut Street, next to the west corner of 
Sixth Street. Warren, the manager, lived at No. 12 (now 712) Sanson 
Street, and that was the birth-place of William Warren, of the Boston 
stage. — Mrs. Wilmot, originally Miss Webb, was first known as Mrs. 
Marshall. She came over from England in 1792, with Marshall, and 
both were speedily accepted as favorites. Mrs. Marshall was reputed 
the best chambermaid actress of her time. "A pretty little woman," 
says Dunlap, " and a most charming actress in the Pickles and romps 
of the drama." She was much admired by Washington. She returned 
to England, left Marshall, wedded Wilmot, came back to America, and 
here died. — James Fennel], the tragedian, was born in London, Dec. 11, 
1766; made his appearance on the American stage in 1794 ; was excel- 
lent in Zanga and Glcnalvon ; lived a wild life, and wrote an " Apology " 
for it ; and died in Philadelphia, a pitiable imbecile, in 1816. — William 
Francis, 1757, 1826, was a superior representative of old men in comedy, 
such as Sir George Thunder. — Thomas Abthorpe Cooper, a great 
tragic actor, and one of the most admired gentlemen of his day, was 
born in 1776, and died in [849. His grave is at Bristol, Pennsylvania. 
— A fine portrait of Jefferson the Second, as Solus, may be found in 
the WVmyss collection "i theatrical portraits. — " The Woodman's 
Hut" is a melo-drama, by Samuel Janus Arnold, son of Dr. Arnold, 
the musician, first produced at Drury Lane, April 12th, 1814. — "Zera- 



JEFFERSON THE SECOND. 1 25 

buca " is a melo-drama, by Isaac Pocock, first produced March 27th, 
1815, at Covent Garden. Emery and Liston were in the first cast. — 
" The Green Man " is a three-act comedy by Richard Jones, light 
comedian, first produced August 5th, 1818, at the Haymarket. — 
In " The Tempest," at Boston, in 1795, Mr - Jefferson acted Mtistachio, a 
sailor mate This part is one of several interpolations, made by Dryden 
and Davenant, in their version of Shakespeare's comedy, acted at Dorset 
Gardens, and published in 1670. A sister to Miranda, a sister to 
Caliban, and a youth who has never seen a woman, are among the 
persons introduced. This piece was long in use, but ultimately gave 
place to John Philip Kemble's adaptations, made, in 1789 and 1806. 
Garrick made an opera of " The Tempest " ; so did Sheridan ; and 
there is a rhymed version of it by Thomas Dibdin. — William War- 
ren (see Dedication, and page 56), made his first appearance on the 
stage, in 1832, at the Arch Street Theatre, Philadelphia, enacting Young 
Norval, in Home's tragedy of " Douglas." He subsequently led a 
roving theatrical life, in the West, and at length settled in Buffalo, 
where he was a favorite comedian, in Rice's Eagle Theatre. From 
there he went to Boston, in 1846, and for twenty weeks was at the 
Howard Athenaeum, under J. H. Hackett's management. In August 
1847, he joined the Boston Museum, with which theatre he has ever 
since been connected, and where he has acted almost all the chief parts, 
of their day, in the lines of low and eccentric comedy and old 
men. The finest Touchstone on the stage of this period — grave, 
quaint, and sadly thoughtful behind the smile and the jest — an ad- 
mirable Polonius, great in Sir Peter Teazle, and of powers that range 
easily from Caleb Phimmer to Eccles, and are adequate to both ex- 
tremes of comic eccentricity and melting pathos, this comedian presents 
a shining exemplification of high and versatile abilities worthily used, 
and brilliant laurels modestly worn. — W. W. 



126 THE JEFFERSONS. 



JEFFERSON THE SECOND AND FRANCIS. 

" My next excursion was to Alexandria, where I completed 
my engagements under the direction of Messrs. Francis and 
Jefferson. I cannot reflect on the conduct of these gentlemen 
without comparing it with my own : nothing has impeached 
their characters during their residence in the United States, 
but much has occurred to exalt them. No instability has 
marked their dispositions ; with steady industry, perseverance, 
and prudence, they have attached themselves closely to the 
profession they had chosen and the city which was originally 
their promised land, and in which they are now (1813) in 
happy possession of competency and respect; — the one, the 
friend and protector of the orphan ; the other, the father of a 
numerous family, under the guardianship of himself and his 
amiable consort, well educated and well instructed. Neither 
one nor the other entered this new world (they will pardon 
the remark) with the advantages I possessed, nor has either of 
them received a fourth part of the sum of money that I have, 
from the patronage of Americans. What, then, has made 
them rich? Prudence. What has reduced my state ? Impru- 
dence. Jefferson ! the amiable father of an amiable offspring ; 
Francis ! the protector of the unprotected, permit me to offer 
you, poor as it is, my homage." — An Apology for the Life of 
yafties Fennell, pp. 418, 419. 



ELIZABETH JEFFERSON. 

[Mrs. C. J. B. FISHER.] 



" We are a queen {or long have dreamed so), certain 
The daughter of a kingP 

Shakespeare. 



ELIZABETH JEFFERSON. 



The reminiscences of this lady have been incorpo- 
rated into the sketch of her father, and it will not be 
amiss to supplement them with some account of their 
author. Elizabeth Jefferson was born in Philadelphia, 
about the year 1810, and in the spring of 1827, when 
seventeen years of age, was brought out at the Chest- 
nut Street Theatre as Rosina, in " The Spanish Bar- 
ber." # She had a lovely voice, and had been carefully 
instructed and trained in music ; but her timidity and 
inexperience on the first night marred her efforts, and 
this appearance was accounted a failure. Cowell, who 
preceded Wemyss in the stage management of the 
Chestnut, when Warren and Wood dissolved their 
partnership, in 1826, had the superintendence of this 
debut, and he has left this record of it, in his " Thirty 
Years," Vol. II. p. 9: — 

" During this season, 1826-27, 1 had the gratification 
of introducing two of the ' fairest of creation,' as can- 
didates for histrionic fame — a daughter of Old Warren, 
and a daughter of Old Jefferson, They were cousins, 
and about the same age. Hetty Warren had decidedly 

* " The Spanish Barber." Comedy, with songs, by George Colman. 
Haymarket, 1777. Taken from " Le Barbiere de Seville," by P. A. C. 
de Beaumarchais. — W. W. 



130 THE JEFFERSONS. 

the best of the race for favor at the start, but Elizabeth 
Jefferson soon shot ahead, and maintained a decided 
superiority. Poor girls ! They were both born and 
educated in affluence, and both lived to see their par- 
ents sink to the grave in comparative poverty. Hetty 
married a big man named Willis — a very talented mu- 
sician — much against the will of her doting father ; 
and, like most arrangements of the kind, it proved a 
sorry one. Elizabeth became the wife of Sam Chap- 
man, in 1828. He was a very worthy fellow, with both 
tact and talent in his favor, and her lot promised un- 
bounded happiness." 

Wemyss, who saw this first appearance, gives con- 
current testimony as to the attempt and its results, in 
the thirteenth chapter of his " Theatrical Biography " : 

" For the benefit of Mr. Jefferson, whose name was 
sure to fill the house, his daughter, Miss E. Jefferson, 
made her first appearance upon any stage as Rosina, in 
'The Spanish Barber.' If Miss Warren was the best 
debutante I had ever seen, Miss Jefferson was decidedly 
the worst. She spoke so low, and so completely lost all 
self-possession, that, had it not been for her father, 
she would scarcely have escaped derision. The only re- 
deeming point was her song of "An old Man would be 
Wooing," in which she was feebly encored. From such 
an unfavorable beginning little was to be expected. But, 
in the race commenced between Miss Warren and her- 
self, although distanced in the first attempt, she soon 
outstripped her rival in her future career, rising step by 
step, until she became, as Mrs. S. Chapman, the lead- 
ing actress of the American stage, in the Park Theatre 



ELIZABE TH JEFFERSON. 1 3 I 

of New York, justly admired by every frequenter of the 
theatre." 

After this dull beginning Miss Jefferson put forth her 
energies with redoubled exertion, and — at the Chest- 
nut, and in those wandering theatrical expeditions with 
which her renowned father felt constrained to close his 
professional career — she soon acquired the experience 
essential to her success. Thus equipped she came for- 
ward at the Park Theatre, New York, on September 
1 st, 1834, in the character of Ophelia; and here she 
was almost immediately accepted as an actress of the 
finest powers and the foremost rank. She had in 
the mean time been married, in Philadelphia, to Mr. 
Samuel Chapman, a young and clever actor, who 
seems to have been a favorite with " Old Jefferson " • 
but he had died * shortly after their marriage, and she 
was now a widow. The bills announced her as Mrs. S. 
Chapman. The stock company in which she took her 
place included Messrs. John K. Mason, H. B. Harri- 
son, John H. Clarke, John Jones, Peter Richings, Henry 
Placide, W. H. Latham, John Fisher, T. H. Blakeley, 
William Wheatley, Thomas Placide, Gilbert Nexsen, J. 

* Samuel Chapman. — " The Reading mail stage, with nine male 
passengers and the driver, was stopped by three foot-pads, a few miles 
from Philadelphia, in the middle of the night. . . . Chapman, who was 
extremely clever at dramatizing local matters, took a ride out to the 
scene of the robbery, the better to regulate the action of a piece he was 
preparing on the subject, was thrown from his horse, and slightly grazed 
his shoulder. He had to wear that night a suit of brass armor, and, the 
weather being excessively hot, he wore it next his skin, which increased 
the excoriation, and it was supposed the verdigris had poisoned. the 
wound. At any rate, he died in a week after the accident." ... — Cow- 
elVs Thirty Years, Vol. 2d, chapter 9th. 



132 THE JEFFERSOXS. 

Povey, Russell, and Hayden, together with 

the lovely^ Mrs. Gurner, Mrs. Wheatley, Mrs. Vernon, 
Mrs. Harrison, Mrs. Durie, Mrs. Archer, and the 
Misses Turnbull. J. W. Wallack acted Hamlet, to open 
the season, and in its course Sheridan Knowles appeared 
in a round of his own characters. Mrs. Chapman's suc- 
cess was uncommonly brilliant. " No actress who ever 
preceded or followed her on the Park stage," says Mr. 
Ireland, " excelled her in general ability, and she was 
the last stock actress attached to the establishment fully 
competent to sustain equally well the leading characters 
in the most opposite walks of the drama. Devoid of 
stage trickery, artless, unaffected, and perfectly true to 
nature, not beautiful in feature, but with a countenance 
beaming with beauty of expression, in whatever charac- 
ter cast she always succeeded in throwing a peculiar 
charm around it, and in making herself admired and 
appreciated. Her performance of Julia, in 'The 
Hunchback,' first stamped her reputation as an artist 
of the highest rank. Her engagement was a continued 
triumph, and her retirement from the stage, in the 
spring of 1835, on her marriage with Mr. Richardson, 
a source of deep and earnest regret." 

The marriage to which Mr. Ireland thus refers was 
contracted with Mr. Augustus Richardson, of Baltimore. 
Cowell mentions him, as " a clever young printer," 
whom he met, in company with Junius Brutus Booth, 
at Annapolis, in 1829. Mr. Richardson, like his mat- 
rimonial predecessor, died suddenly, and in conse- 
quence of an accidental fall ; and his widow, returning 
to the stage, was again seen at the old Park. She sub- 



ELIZABETH JEFFERSON. 1 33 

sequently went into the South, joining her brother (Jef- 
ferson the Third) and other relatives and connections ; 
and, after her brother's death, in 1842, she managed for 
a time the theatre at Mobile ; and at this place, in 
1849, sne was married to Mr. Charles J. B. Fisher, 
whose death, in 1859, aged fifty-four, left her again a 
widow. These bereavements were not her worst af- 
flictions. One of her sons was murdered in New Or- 
leans, and another (Vernon by name) became insane 
from a fall, and, after lingering for many years in abject 
lunacy, expired in an asylum. Her own death is stated, 
in Brown's " History of the American Stage " (p. 310), 
to have occurred in- 1853, but this was an error. A 
strong will, an intrepid spirit, and a magnificent consti- 
tution, have sustained her to the present time in pa- 
tience and steadfast industry. For many years this 
lady has been a teacher of music ; and one of her 
daughters — Miss Clara Fisher, bearing the name of 
her famous aunt, now Mrs. Maeder — has been favor- 
ably known on the New York stage as a vocalist. 
Charles J. B. Fisher's first appearance on any stage 
was made at the Mobile Theatre, in 1842, as Dazzle, 
in " London Assurance." 

The musical style of Elizabeth Richardson was based 
on that of the beautiful Garcia (Mine. Malibran), whom 
she saw at the New York Park Theatre in the season of 
1825, having been sent over from Philadelphia expressly 
to observe and study this incomparable model. When 
only eleven years of age she was elected an honorary 
member of the " Musical Fund Society," of Philadel- 
phia. John Sinclair, the famous vocalist, father of the 



134 THE JEFFERSONS. 

lady who became the wife of Edwin Forrest, repeatedly 
said that he considered her the best singer in America, 
and more than once offered her a star position in his 
musical company. Had she but adhered to either the 
lyric or dramatic stage, and resisted the allurements of 
ideal domesticity, there is no limit to the eminence she 
might have reached. Long before she came to the 
Park Theatre, Henry J. Finn, the comedian, had as- 
sured Edmund Simpson, the manager, that she was 
beyond all rivalry as a comedy actress ; and Finn had 
already offered her the leading business, on her own 
terms, at the St. Charles Theatre, New Orleans. Ty- 
rone Power had also spoken of her with unstinted ad- 
miration. Edwin Forrest, in whose " support " she had 
acted at Washington, declared her to be the best tragic 
actress on the stage : " She is the best Lady Macbeth 
we have," he said, "and the only Paulifie" Some- 
body asked Simpson one day how he had happened to 
hear of her as an actress. " I have heard of nobody 
else for two years," answered the manager — to whom, 
indeed, it seemed that the Admirable Crichton had come 
again, in petticoats. During the Park engagement of 
Sheridan Knowles she acted in all the pieces produced 
for him, — " The Hunchback," " William Tell," " Vir- 
ginia," "The Wife," etc., — and the famous author 
was fascinated with her loveliness and her genius. 
Ever afterward, in writing to her from England, he ad- 
dressed her as Lady Julia Rochdale, and signed his let- 
ters " Your father, Walter." It was as Julia that she 
made her first hit at the Park ; and her popularity there 
was so great that every omission of her name from 



ELIZABETH JEFFERSON. - 1 35 

the bill would cause a serious depression in the receipts. 
Yet this actress was only a member of the stock com- 
pany, receiving a salary of $30 a week ; and the receipts 
from her farewell benefit performance were only $882. 
She was the original, in America, of many of the first 
and finest characters in comedy, vaudeville, and bur- 
lesque — of Julia, in "The thmchback," Pauline, in 
" The Lady of Lyons," Marianne, in " The Wife," Ger- 
trude, in "The Loan of a Lover," Bess, in "The Beg- 
gar of Bethnal Green," Lydia, in "The Love Chase," 
Eliza, in " The Dumb Belle," Lissette Ger stein, in " The 
Swiss Cottage," Gabrielle, in "Tom Noddy's Secret," 
Perseus, in "The Deep, Deep Sea," Oliver Twist, in 
the play of that name, made 'from the novel by Charles 
Dickens, and Smike, in " Nicholas Nickleby," from the 
same author. Among her other characters were A?nina, 
Rosina, Cinderella, Vettoria, in "The Knight of the 
Golden Fleece," Madame de Manneville, in "Married 
Lovers," Therese, in "Secret Service," Esmeralda, in 
"The Hunchback of Notre Dame," Mrs. Lynx, in 
"Married Life," Mrs. Bud, in "My Wife's Mother," 
Mimi, in "The Pet of the Petticoats," Helen Worrett, 
Myrtillo, in " The Broken Sword," Maria, in " Of Age 
To-morrow," and Jenny, in "The Widow's Victim." 
The complete list of her representations would fill 
many pages. Her range extended from Lady Macbeth 
to Little Pickle, and she was excellent in all that she 
attempted. Time makes a sad havoc with beauty and 
fame. In other years, when this lady walked in Broad- 
way, her footsteps were followed by the admiring glances 
of hundreds of worshippers. To-day her slight and 



136 THE JEFFERSONS. 

faded figure, draped in its garments of grief, flits by un- 
noticed in the crowd. It would be difficult to point to 
a career which better illustrates than this one the muta- 
bility of human happiness and worldly fortune and the 
evanescent character of theatrical renown. 



JEFFERSON THE THIRD. 
1804- 1842. 



" He is insensibly subdued 
To settled quiet : he is one by whom 
All effort seems forgotten ; o)te to whom 
Long patience hath such mild composure given 
That patience now doth seem a thing of which 
He hath no needy 

' ' He is retired as noo7itide dew 

Or fountain in a nooit-d ay grove ; 
And you must love him ere to you 
He will seem worthy of your love." 

Wordsworth. 



JEFFERSON THE THIRD. 



This was an uneventful life, and the story of it takes 
the -form of a tribute to singular beauty and worth of 
personal character rather than of a narrative of achieve- 
ments that concerned the world. Joseph Jefferson, the 
third of this line of actors, was born at Philadelphia, in 
1804, and in that city he received his education and 
grew to manhood. While a boy he did not evince a 
taste for the stage, but preferred the study of architec- 
ture and drawing ; and this he pursued diligently and 
with success. In these branches, and also in painting, 
he was instructed by Coyle,* an English scenic artist of 
repute at that period. There is no positive record of 
his first appearances upon the stage, but it is remem- 
bered that he sometimes played little parts, such as the 
First Murderer in " Macbeth," while yet a youth. His 
name appears on the play-bills of the Chestnut Street 
Theatre as early as 1814, and it is known that when 
finally he had adopted the dramatic profession he made 
himself a good actor in the line of old men. In 1824 
he was a member of the dramatic company of the Chat- 

* Robert Coyle was killed by an accidental fall from a wagon, his 
horse having suddenly started in fright. A performance for the benefit 
of his widow occurred at the Bowery Theatre, New York, August 22d, 
r&jjr. — W. W. 



140 THE JEFFERSONS. 

ham Garden Theatre, New York, under the manage- 
ment of Mr. Henry Barriere. This company comprised 
Henry Walkck, Geo. H. Barrett, Thomas Burke, Alex- 
ander Simpson, W. Robertson, Henry George More- 
land, John A. Stone (who afterwards wrote " Metamora," 
etc.), A. J. Allen, W. Anderson, C. Durang, Spiller, Som- 
erville, Williamson, Collins, and Oliff (once prompter 
at the old Park, and whose descendants are now (1881) 
esteemed residents of Castleton, Staten Island), with 
Thomas Kilner for stage-manager. The ladies were 
Mrs. Entwistle (who had been Mrs. Mason, and who 
became Mrs. Crooke), Miss Henry (afterwards famous 
as Mrs. G. H.Barrett), Mrs. Caroline Placide Waring, 
Mrs. T. Burke, Mrs. Walstein, Mrs. C. Durang, Mrs. 
H. Wallack, Mrs. Kilner, Mrs. Allen, Mrs. Spiller, Mrs. 
P. M. Clark, and Miss Oliff. The theatre was opened 
that season (its third) with "The Soldier's Daughter" 
and "Raising the Wind," and the casts of the night, 
May 1 7th, set Jefferson's name against the characters 
of Woodlcy and Fa'mwould. His acting on this and 
subsequent occasions was thought to give a promise 
of excellence. He did not long remain in New York, 
but went back to Philadelphia ; and there, and in 
Washington, Baltimore, and the region round about, 
pursued, discursively, his theatrical labors. In 1826, at 
the age of twenty-two, he was married to Mrs. Thomas 
Burke, whom he had fust met at the Chatham Garden 
Theatre, and who was eight years his senior. This was 
a " love-match," and the marriage proved exceptionally 
happy and fortunate. After his father quitted Philadel- 
phia, in 1829-30, he managed for the old gentleman, in 



JEFFERSON THE THIRD. 141 

Washington, Lancaster, Harrisburg, and other cities, 
and he remained with him till the last. During the 
season of 1831-32 he managed the theatre in Wash- 
ington. During the seasons of 1835-37 he was con- - 
nected, successively, with the Franklin Theatre, at No. 
175 Chatham Street, New York, and with Niblo's Gar- 
den. At the Franklin he was scene-painter as well as 
actor. " Mobb the Outlaw, or Jemmy Twitcher in 
France" ("Robert Macaire"), was given there, on 
May 2d, 1836, with new scenery by him. On May 
25th he acted King Arthur, in the travestie of "Tom 
Thumb." On June 1st "The Hunchback" was per- 
formed for his benefit, with his sister Elizabeth as Julia, 
and with his wife in the bill, for a song. The latter had 
been absent about ten years from the New York stage, 
and it was now observed that her voice and person had 
been impaired by the ravages of time. On March 1st, 
1837, Jefferson took another benefit, the programme 
comprising "The Lady of the Lake," "The Forty 
Thieves," and a vaudeville entitled "The Welsh Girl," 
in the latter of which pieces he represented a person- 
age styled Sir Owen Ap Griffith. Mrs. Jefferson ap- u 
peared as Blanche of Devon, and as Morgiana. Charles «- 
Burke, her son, then a lad of fifteen, took part in the 
exercises, singing a sOng entitled "The Beautiful Boy." 
Jefferson the Fourth, then eight years old, was present ( ~ 
at this performance. For a few weeks, during the sum- 
mer of 1837, Jefferson and John Sefton managed a 
vaudeville company at Niblo's, and produced musical 
farces. Mrs. Harrison, Mrs. Bailey, Mrs. Knight, Mrs. 
Gurner, Mrs. Henry, Mrs. Watts, Mrs. Maeder (Clara 



142 THE JEFFERSONS. 

Fisher), Mrs. Richardson, Miss Jane Anderson, Alexina 
Fisher (afterwards Mrs. Lewis Baker), and Miss De 
Bar (afterwards Mrs. J. B. Booth, Jr.), appeared in this 
troupe, and the males were Jefferson, Sefton, Plumer, 
Henry, Th. Bishop, Thayer, Lewellen, Thoman, J. W. 
Wallack, Jr., Edwin, Latham, and P. Williams. The 
season ended on September 16th, 1837, and that proved 
Jefferson's farewell of the New York stage. He pro- 
ceeded with his family to Chicago, there joining his 
brother-in-law, Alexander Mackenzie ; and the rest of 
his career — made up of much wandering and many 
vicissitudes — was accomplished in the West and South, 
through an exceedingly primitive period of the Ameri- 
can theatre. He seldom met with prosperity, but he 
seems to have possessed the true Mark Tapley tem- 
perament, and his spirits always rose when his fortunes 
were at the worst. He was manager, actor, scene- 
painter, stage-carpenter, — anything and everything 
connected with the art and business of the stage. He 
understood it all, and in every relation that he sustained 
toward it he was faithful, thorough, and adequate to 
his duties. The dramatic chronicles give but little at- 
tention to his proceedings ; yet they bear one concur- 
rent and invariable testimony to his personal charm, 
winning simplicity, and intellectual and moral worth. 
His trials were bravely met ; his hardships were pa- 
tiently borne ; and, to the end, he labored in steadfast 
cheerfulness and hope, making good use of his talents 
and opportunities, and never repining at his lot. 

" The father of our Rip Van Winkle" writes the 
veteran manager, John T. Ford, "was one of the most 



JEFFERSON THE THIRD. 1 43 

lovable men that ever lived. He acted occasionally, 
painted almost constantly, and when he had a theatre, 
as sometimes happened, he managed his business with 
that careless amiability, almost amounting to weakness, 
that was inseparable from his nature. Once, when he 
was managing in Washington, he was so poor that, 
wanting Edwin Forrest to act there, he had to walk to 
Baltimore, forty miles, and did so, to solicit him. He 
enjoyed life, in a dreamy way, and his only anxiety was 
for his children." 

Another kindly picture of him is afforded in the fol- 
lowing remarks by his sister Elizabeth : " My brother 
Joe was a gentle, good man, true and kind in every re- 
lation of life. He was very like his father, — so much 
so that, in the play of ' The Exile,' * where the latter had 
to dance in domino, Joe would often, to save his father 
the trouble, put on the dress and dance the quadrille, 
and no spectator could tell the difference, or was aware 
of the change of persons. He was fond of his fireside, 
serene in adversity, humble in prosperity, affectionate 
in temperament, and beloved by all who knew him. 
Painting was his great passion. He became a very 
good actor in old men. He was an inveterate quiz. I 
have seen him, — when he was manager as well as ac- 
tor, — after making some sort of a mistake on the stage, 
fix his composed and solemn gaze magisterially upon 
some one of the supers, till the poor fellow came really 
to think that the blunder had been made by himself, 
and trembled lest he might be at once discharged. Joe 

* " The Exile, or The Desert of Siberia." Musical Play, in three 
acts. By Frederic Reynolds. Covent Garden, Nov. 10th, 1818. — W.W. 



144 THE JEFFERSONS. 

married Mrs. Burke, who was a great singer. No voice 
that I ever heard could compare with hers, except, pos- 
sibly, that of Parepa. My father feared that, as Joe 
was so much younger than his wife, the match might 
not turn out well ; but there never was a happier 
marriage. Indeed, it could not be otherwise ; for Joe 
was all sunshine, and she loved him, and that says 
all." 

Ireland speaks of Jefferson as " admirably costumed 
and skilfully made up, appearing at times the living por- 
trait of his father " ; but intimates that, as an actor, he 
did not fulfil the promise of his early efforts. The truth 
is that he was a quiet, unobtrusive, unambitious gentle- 
man ; and the fact that he did not take a high rank in 
the public estimation was mainly because he did not 
care to make the essential effort. His philosophic, 
drifting, serene disposition is aptly illustrated in this 
incident. An old friend of his, hearing that he had met 
with great misfortune in business, and, in fact, become 
bankrupt, called at his dwelling to cheer him, and was 
told by Mrs. Jefferson that her husband had gone a fish- 
ing. He expressed surprise, and, with some vague ap- 
prehension that all might not be well, went down to the 
river in search of him. The object of his solicitude 
was soon found, sitting composedly in a shady nook on 
the bank of the Schuylkill, humming a pleasant air, and 
sketching the ruins of a tumble-down mill on the oppo- 
site shore. Cordial greetings exchanged, the sympa- 
thetic visitor could not conceal his astonishment that a 
crushing misfortune should be accepted so cheerfully. 
" Not at all," said Jefferson ; " I have lost everything, 



JEFFERSON THE THIRD. 145 

and I am so poor now that I really cannot afford to let 
anything worry me." 

A few of the characters that were acted by Jefferson 
the Third are specified in the subjoined list : — 

Polonhis. In the unconsciously humorous sapience and half- 
senile prolixity of this part he was exceptionally excellent. 

Sir Robert Bramble, in " The Poor Gentleman." 

Dogberry, in " Much Ado About Nothing." 

Crabtree, in "The School For Scandal." 

Admiral Franklin, in " Sweethearts and Wives." 

Mr. Coddle, in " Married Life." 

The First Witch, in " Macbeth." 

King Arthur, in "Tom Thumb." 

M. de Villecour, in " Promotion, or the General's Hat." 

First Grave-Digger, in "Hamlet." 

Raff, in " The Conquering Game." 

Naudin, in " Tom Noddy's Secret." 

Baron Vanderbushel, in " The Sentinel." 

John Bull, in Colman's comedy of that name. 

Gratiano, in " The Merchant of Venice." 

Baptisto, in " The Hunter of the Alps." 

Reef, in " Ambrose Gwinett." Melodrama. By Douglas 
Jerrold. 

Tapwell, in " A New Way to Pay Old Debts." 

Station, in " The Blind Boy." Play. By William Dunlap. 
Altered from Kotzebue. 

Sentinel, in "The Wandering Boys." By M. M. Noah. 

Spinosa, in "Venice Preserved." Tragedy. By Thomas Ot- 
way. 1682. 

Duke of Norfolk, in Cibber's version of Shakespeare's " Rich- 
ard the Third." 

Sentinel, in " Pizarro." 
Memno, in " Abcellino." 

The latter piece was a conspicuous example of the 
" wretched Dutch stuff " that Mr. Dunlap 's actors so 



I46 THE JEFFERSONS. 

properly despised. In later days, at the Chatham 
Garden Theatre, it gave an occasion for a facetious ex- 
ploit by Jefferson the Third and his comrades, to the 
discomfiture of an actor named Andrew Jackson Allen, 
who was "the veritable Guy" of the company. This 
performer was a manufacturer of patent leather orna- 
ments for. stage dresses ; and it was he who once aston- 
ished Edwin Forrest by the emphatic inquiry, " I should 

like -to know what the h your Richard the Third 

would amount to without my spangles?" Allen was 
partial to the play of " Absellino," and on the occasion 
named he had chosen it for his benefit night. Its 
closing situation presents the whole drama/is persona 
on the scene, and, at a critical moment, they all are to 
exclaim, " Where is Abcellino ? " But Jefferson's mis- 
chievous plan had arranged that when this moment 
should come the entire company should stand immova- 
ble and speechless. Abcellino, his head darkly muffled 
in his cloak, for a while awaited the word. At last he 
was heard to mutter, several times, "Somebody say 
' where 's Abcellino I ' " There was no response, and the 
house was already in a titter. The dilemma was finally 
broken by Allen himself, who loudly cried out, " If you 
want to know where 's AbcEllino, here he is" — and 
threw off his disguise, amid shrieks of laughter. 

In Cowell's " Thirty Years " there is a passing glimpse 
of Jefferson the Third in his last days. Cowell had 
repaired to Mobile after the conflagration of the St. 
Charles Theatre, New Orleans, in 1842, and he refers 
to the theatre which he there joined, — a property 
owned by James H. Caldwell, leased that year to Messrs. 



JEFFERSON THE THIRD. 1 47 

De Vendel and Dumas, and managed for them by Mr. 
Charles J. B. Fisher, brother to Clara Fisher, the fa- 
mous and popular actress. Cowell says : " Charles 
Fisher, being very desirous of proving his friendship 
for the Jefferson family, engaged all the immediate de- 
scendants of ' the old man ' now alive, and as many of 
the collateral branches as were in want of situations. 
Mrs. Richardson had been in Mobile the season be- 
fore, and therefore she was the nucleus around whom 
were clustered her two sisters and their husbands, 
Messrs. Mackenzie and Wright, her brother Joseph and 
his two very clever children, and her niece Mrs. Ger- 
mon and husband. The company, in consequence, 
was literally a family, with the exception of James 
Thorne and myself, Mrs. Stewart, Morton, and Mr. and 
Mrs. Hodges : so that when poor Joe Jefferson died 
the theatre had to be closed two nights ; for without 
the assistance of the chief mourners we could not make 
a performance." * 

Jefferson's death occurred, suddenly, at Mobile, Ala- 
bama, at midnight on Thursday the 24th of November, 
1842. He died of yellow-fever, and his remains were 
buried on the 25th. His grave is in Magnolia Ceme- 
tery, at Mobile (Square number 6, Lot number 32), 
and it is marked by a white marble headstone inscribed 

* "Old Joe Cowell was an envious man, who looked on the 
actions of his fellow-men with an eye of sarcasm, and was ready at all 
times to pick a flaw in, and to turn to ridicule, their best efforts." — 
Ltidlotv's Dramatic Life. This is found to be true in reading Cowell's 
book, for the spirit of the writer clearly shines through his words. Nev- 
ertheless, he affords an occasional detail, or tint, that is of advantage to 
this picture of the Past. — W. W. 



148 THE JEFFERSONS. 

with his name, the date of his death, and the number 
of his years. He was only thirty-eight. The stone to 
commemorate him was erected in 1S67 by his son Jo- 

> seph, and at the same time a wooden grave-mark, which 
had originally designated the spot (the sole tribute that 
poverty then permitted filial reverence to offer), was 
brought away by him and buried in the earth at his 
country-seat in Hohokus, New Jersey. 

•^ The subjoined reflections upon the death of Jefferson 
were published, at the time of its occurrence, in the 

\" Mobile Advertiser " : "When the man of wealth and 
station pays that debt which neither high nor low can re- 
pudiate nor delay, he seldom lacks a eulogist to descant 
on his posthumous virtues, though undiscovered until his 
death, while humble excellence rarely lives beyond the 
circle of affectionate friendship. Mr. Joseph Jefferson 
was the second son and namesake of that distinguished 
comedian so many years the pride and ornament of the 
Chestnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, whose unblem- 
ished private life was a moral sanction for his public 
reputation ; and never did the unostentatious virtues of 
a father more purely descend upon his offspring than 
in the person of the deceased. He was an actor of 
great talent, and an artist of unquestioned excellence. 
Though living in the public world, it was not there that 
his true merit was seen; and one who has known him 
many years, in every relation of life, may be permitted 
to say that, as a son, a brother, a lather, a husband, and 
a friend, he has left none purer to lament his death or 

A attest his virtues. Guileless as a child, he passed 
through life in perfect charity to all mankind, and 



JEFFERSON THE THIRD. 149 

never, by his nearest and dearest, was he known to 
utter an unkind word or entertain an illiberal opinion. 
. . . His blameless nature was as free from a thought 
or act of dishonor as the diamond is free from alloy ; 
and, though a stranger among us, there are many sor- 
rowing hearts in distant parts of this his native land 
who will promptly indorse this testimony." 

Note. — Careful search for a portrait of Jefferson the third 
has not been rewarded. A silhouette likeness of him, and of 
his wife, is all that could be found. A water-color portrait of 
him, made by a Philadelphia artist, named Wood, was long in 
existence. It was in a circular frame, marked with Masonic 
emblems. It disappeared, about forty years ago, with other 
possessions of the family, in a western city. Jefferson was an 
uncommonly handsome man, self-contained, placid, and singu- 
larly interesting. With the person, the manners, and the serene 
and gentle temperament of an Addison, this actor was, in his 
quiet way, an inveterate wag. This ideal is the strongest image 
of him that lives in memory, and many anecdotes are told, to 
give it proof. On an occasion, at the Washington Theatre, the 
play of " Tekeli " was presented, under Jefferson's management, 
with a melodramatic actor named Dan Reed as the hero. Reed 
was a large man, tall and formidable, wore a tremendous wig 
of black hair, and spoke in tones of thunder. On this occasion 
he was very drunk ; so that, when the first curtain fell, Jeffer- 
son thought it best to withdraw him from the performance. 
There was a stage-struck tailor in the theatre, the keeper of the 
wardrobe, a little man with a small round head, entirely bald. 
This person, seeing his opportunity, offered himself as a sub- 
stitute for the stalwart and vociferous Reed, — and the occasion 
instantly became one that Jefferson could not resist. He 
seized Reed's wig, stuck it on the bald head of the tailor, and, 
without a word of explanation to the audience, sent him on for 
the second act. The business requires that, at this juncture, 
Tekeli shall be discovered, apparently dead, lying upon a bier ; 



150 THE JEFFERSONS. 

and that he presently shall leap up, alive and well, with a fine 
flourish of exultation. The little tailor rose to the occasion, — 
springing suddenly into a defiant attitude, and squeaking out, 
in a thin, shrill voice, " Hi ham Teakaylee ! " At the same 
instant the great shaggy wig dropped from his pate, and re- 
vealed that object, hairless, and shining like a soap-bubble, — 
while a deep voice from the gallery, improving the ensuing 
moment of startled silence, quietly ejaculated, " Great Gosh, 
what a head ! " It is needless to add that the audience fairly 
yelled with laughter. Jefferson's enjoyment of the scene, would, 
naturally, have been profound. 

"By sports like these are all their cares beguiled — 
The sports of children satisfy the child." 

W. W. 



CHARLES SAINT THOMAS BURKE. 
1822 -1854. 



" Upon my word, thou art a very odd fellow, and I like thy 
humor extremely.'''' — Fielding. 

"With all the forttinate have not — 
With gentle voice and brow: 
Alive, we woidd have changed thy lot — 
We would not change it now.' 1 ' 1 — Matthew Arnold. 



CHARLES BURKE. 



It is the concurrent testimony of judicious actors and 
play-goers who remember this extraordinary young man 
that he was pre-eminently possessed of genius in the 
dramatic art ; but his life was so brief, his health so 
delicate, his temperament so dream-like and drifting, 
and his fate in general so unfortunate, that he neither 
made his rightful impression upon his own epoch, nor 
left an adequate memory to ours. Charles Saint Thomas 
Burke (deriving the name of Saint from his god-father, 
and that of Thomas from his mother) was a child of 
the marriage of Thomas Burke and Cornelia Frances 
Thomas, and was bora in Philadelphia, March 27th, 
1822. When three years old he was introduced upon 
the stage, being utilized in a line of infantile parts, after 
the fashion of theatrical families in those days ; and 
from that time onward he was devoted to a theatrical 
career. As a boy he was exceedingly apt and intelli- 
gent. He saw, and he could in some measure appre- 
ciate, the acting of Jefferson the Second, and of John and 
Thomas Jefferson, his connections, — not to speak of 
other worthies of the Chestnut Street Theatre, — and 
in that good school he was nurtured and trained. In 
the summer .of 1836, when in his fifteenth year, he 



154 THE JEFFERSONS. 

came out at the National Theatre, New York, as the 
Prince of Wales, in " Richard the Third." The elder 
Booth was acting Gloster. Later in the season the boy 
was seen as Prince John, in " Henry IV.," and as Irus, 
in " Ion," — the former play having been produced for 
Hackett (as Falstaff}, and the latter for George Jones, 
subsequently known as "The Count Joannes." Burke 
also occasionally sung in public, and he was esteemed 
wonderfully clever in comic vocalism. Long before 
this time his mother had married Joseph Jefferson (the 
Third) ; and when, at the end of 1837, his step-father 
removed from New York into the West, Burke was 
taken there, along with the rest of the family, and he 
shared the vicissitudes and hardships of the wandering 
life which ensued, — at first in the dramatic company 
formed by Jefferson and his brother-in-law Alexander 
Mackenzie, and afterwards with Sol. Smith and others. 
He was not seen again in New York till 1847, when, on 
July 19th, he appeared at the Bowery Theatre, acting 
Ebenezer Calf, in " Ole Bull," and Dickory, in "The 
Spectre Bridegroom." Here he remained about a year, 
and thoroughly established himself as a local favorite. 
In the summer of 1848 he joined his friend Chanfrau, 
at the New National Theatre, formerly the Chatham, 
which was opened on August 14th, that year, with 
Burke as acting-manager ; and with this house he was 
connected, during its regular seasons, till the summer 
of 185 1. There is a record of his having appeared at 
Burton's Theatre, in the spring of 1849, as Billy Bow- 
bell, in "The Illustrious Stranger": but Burton was 
jealous of him, as a probable rival in popularity, and 



CHARLES- B URKE. 1 5 5 

subsequently used effective influence to exclude him 
from the theatres of the West Side ; * and the result of 
this successful hostility was that Burke was banished to 
the Bowery, and that ever since he has commonly been 
named, not, as he should be, with Finn, Burton, Blake, 
Twaits, Blissett, Warren, and Jefferson, but with comic 
artists of the more common quality of Barnes, Gates, 
Sefton, and Hadaway. The last three years of Burke's ^ 
life were mainly spent in professional travel. Ludlow 
saw him in St. Louis in his latter days, and Edwin Booth 
and David Anderson entertained him at their ranche in 
California in 1852-53. He worked hard, and found u 
favor and made friends ■ but he met with scant pros- 
perity, and he suffered from failing health and waning 
spirits. His last appearance on the stage was made 
where his professional life began, — at the Chestnut v 
Street Theatre, Philadelphia. This happened on Feb- 
ruary nth, 1854 ; and the last character that he per- v 

* " It was said that Burton, jealous of Burke, and of his successes in " 
some of the parts which Burton had made his own, and in which he 
could not endure the idea of a rival, was the cause of Burke's banish- 
ment from Broadway to the East side of the town. Burton was believed 
to be financially interested, in 1849, with Mr. E. A. Marshall in the Broad- 
way Theatre, although his name does not appear in the bills of that date, 
and it was said to be a part of his contract with Marshall that Burke 
should have no engagement at the house during Marshall's management. 
. . . Burke never succeeded, after that date,*in getting a position in a 
West side theatre, but played his unhappily too few engagements in New 
York to the audiences of the Bowery, where he was immensely popular. 
... He is, perhaps, quite forgotten, except by his own friends, and the 
few old play-goers who cling to the memories of the palmy days of the 
last generation ; but by these ' Poor Charly Burke ' is still remembered 
for his many good qualities as actor and man." — Laurence Hutioris 
Plays and Players (1875), chapter xiv. 



156 THE JEFFERSONS. 

sonated was Ichabod Crane, in " Murrell, the Land 
Pirate." He was twice wedded, but left no children. 
Both his marriages were unfortunate. His first wife, 
Margaret Murcoyne, a native of Philadelphia, born in 
181 8, died in that city in 1849. His second, Mrs. 
Sutherland, survived him, but has since passed away. 
Both these ladies were on the stage. The latter was 
>\ the mother of lone Sutherland, who adopted her step- 
father's name, and, as lone Burke, had a brief theatri- 
cal career, terminating in marriage. She is now residing 
in retirement in England. Charles Burke died in Leon- 
ard Street, New York, November 10th, 1854, in the 
thirty-third year of his age, and was buried in the same 
grave with his mother, in Ronaldson's Cemetery at Phil- 
adelphia. 

The testimonials which exist, to the loveliness of 
Burke's character, and to the strength and versatility 
of his genius, are touched equally with affection and 
tender regret. " He grew up," writes Elizabeth Jeffer- 
son, "to be one of the best actors we ever had. As a 
boy he was full of promise ; and when, after fifteen 
} years, I saw him act in Mobile I was struck with what 
seemed to me a revival of the old time. A more tal- 
ented and kind-hearted man than Charles Burke never 
lived." His old comrade Chanfrau speaks in the same 
strain : " He was a great actor and a true man. One 
cannot say too much of his talents and his worth. He 
could do many things in acting, and was wonderful in 
all that he did." 

In person Burke was tall, slender, and extraordinarily 
thin ; and his long, emaciated figure — agile, supple, 



CHARLES BURKE. 1 57 

and graceful — seemed expressly made for queer comic 
contortions and grotesque attitudes. His countenance 
was capable of great variety of expression, ranging from 
ludicrous eccentricity to painful sadness, and he had it 
under such complete control that it responded, instantly 
and exactly, to every changing impulse of his mind and 
feelings, so that he had a new face for every part that 
he played. The boys of the Bowery pit firmly believed 
him to be the original of the long-legged figure on the 
comic almanac. In the course of thirty years many 
parts were acted by this versatile player. These are a 
few of them, suggestively indicative of his attributes and 
artistic affinities : — 



PARTS ACTED BY CHARLES BURKE. 

Touchstone, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, Slender, Dromio, Launce, 
The First Gravedigger, Launcelot Gobbo, Marrall, Baillie Nicol 
yarvie, Dr. OH apod, Zekiel Homespun, Bob Acres, Moses, The 
Mock Duke Jacques, Grandfather Whitehead, Mark Meddle, and 
Caleb Phcmmer. 

Dickory,\\\ "The Spectre Bridegroom." Farce. By W. T. 
Moncrieff. Drury Lane, 1821. 

Ebenezer Calf, in "Die Bull." Farce. 

Billy Lackaday, in " Sweethearts and Wives." 

Clever, in " Woman's Wit." Acted under the name of " Slan- 
der." Play. By Sheridan Knowles. 

Stitchback, in " Hofer, the Tell of the Tyrol." 

Rip Van Winkle, in a drama on that subject, by himself. 

Splash, in " The Young Widow." 

Grumio, in " The Taming of the Shrew." 

Solon Shingle, in " The People's Lawyer." Farce. - By Dr. 
J. S. Jones. 

Horsebeam Hemlock, in " Captain Kyd." Drama First acted 



158 THE JEFFERSOXS. 

at the Park, in 1S39, with Peter Richings as Robert Lester, alias 
Kyd, Mrs. Richardson as Kate, and Charlotte Cushman as 
Elspy. 

Ichabod Crane, in " Murrell the Land Pirate, or the Yankee 
in Mississippi." Drama. By Nathaniel Harrington Bannister 
(iS 1 3-1847), author of about one hundred plays. 

Iago, in a travestie of " Othello." 

Billy Bozubell, in " The Illustrious Stranger." 

Mesopotamia Jenkins, in " The Revolution." Play. By Charles 
Burke. Bowery, 1847. 

Cloten, in " Cymbeline." 

Ensign Jost Stoll, in " Jacob Leisler, or New York in 1690." 
Historical drama. By Cornelius Matthews. Bowery Theatre, 
1S4S. 

Isidore Fari/te, in " The Pride of the Market." Mary Taylor 
acted with Burke, as Morton. 

Clod Meddlenot, in " The Lady of the Lions." Burlesque. 

Captain Tobin, in " The Mysteries and Miseries of New York." 
By H. P. Grattan. Based on a story by " Ned Buntline " (E. C. 
Z. Judson). 

Mr. Mc Greedy, in a burlesque, by himself, satirizing the great 
tragic actor, W. C. Macready. 

Paul Pry, in the comedy of that name, by John Poole. 

Toby Veck, in "The Chimes." Drama. Based on the Christ- 
mas story of that name, by Charles Dickens. 

Caleb Scrimmage, in " Jonathan Bradford, or the Roadside 
Murder." 

Darby, in "The Poor Soldier." Comic opera. By John 
O'Keefe. Covent Garden, 1793. 

Mettaroarer, in " The Female Forty Thieves." Burlesque. 
In this part Burke gave a comic imitation of Edwin Forrest, as 
Mctamora. 

Deuteronomy Dutiful, Selitn Pettibone, and Timothy Toodlcs. 

An instructive article by L. Clarke Davis, published 
in " Lippincott's Magazine" for July. 1879, entitled 
"At and After the Play," incidentally shows Burke as 



CHARLES BURKE. 1 59 

dramatist and actor, embodies a pleasing reminiscence 
of him by that delightful humorist and comedian John 
S. Clarke, and places Burke and Jefferson before the 
reader in their sacred relation of affectionate brother- 
hood. Burke made his own version of " Rip Van Win- 
kle," and acted Rip. Mr. Davis comments on the 
subject, as follows : — 

" Burke's play follows closely the story of the ' Sketch-Book,' 
and lacks altogether the sweet, tender humanity and the weird 
spirituality which pervade the combined work of Jefferson and 
Boucicault : it makes nothing of the parting from, or the meeting 
with, the child Meenie ; but, much of the dialogue, which was 
Burke's own, has been wisely retained. The speech containing 
the notable line ' Are we so soon forgot when we are gone ? ' is 
Burke's, not Boucicault's, though Jefferson has transposed and 
altered it for the better. It is introduced in the original, when 
Rip, returning to his old home, is told that if he be Rip, and not an 
impostor, some one of his old cronies will surely recognize him. 
He answers, ' To be sure dey will ! Every one knows me in 
Kaatskill. (All gather around him and shake their heads.) No, 
no, I don't know dese peoples — dey don't know me neither; 
and yesterday dere was not a dog in the village but would have 
wagged his tail at me : now dey bark. Dere was not a child 
but would have scrambled on my knees : now dey run from me. 
Are we so soon forgotten when we are gone ? Already dere is 
no one wot knows poor Rip Van Winkle.'' 

" We never saw Charles Burke play this part, though we have 
seen him play many others, and can testify to the greatness of 
his genius and the perfection of his art. . . . How he spoke that 
speech we have been told by John Sleeper Clarke, who is so 
just a man and so free from professional jealousy that he could 
not, if he would, praise the dead at the expense of the living. 
Mr. Clarke says that in the delivery of those lines no other actor 
has ever disturbed the impression that the profound pathos of 
Burke's voice, face, and gesture created : it fell upon the senses 



:6o 



THE JEFFERSONS. 



like the culmination of all mortal despair, and the actor's fig- 
ure, as the low, sweet tones died away, symbolized more the ' 
ruin of the representative of a race than the sufferings of an 
individual : his awful loss and loneliness seemed to clothe him 
with a supernatural dignity and grandeur which commanded the 
sympathy and awe of his audience. Mr. Clarke played Scth with 
Mr. Burke for many consecutive nights, and he relates that, on 
each succeeding night, though he was always aware of what was 
coming, even watching for it, when those lines were spoken his 
heart seemed to rise in his throat, choking him, and his cheeks 
were wet with 'tears ; for Burke's manner of pronouncing them 
was so pathetic that not only the audience but even the actors 
on the stage were affected by it. 

" Mr. Jefferson, remembering how his brother spoke that 
speech, has adopted a different mode : ' It is possible that I 

might speak it as he did, but ' He leaves the sentence 

unfinished, the reason untold ; but it is an open secret to those 
who know how deep is the reverence of the living Rip for the 
dead one. They know that there are tones of Charles Burke's 
voice even which are held in too sacred a memory by his brother 
ever to be recalled by him upon the stage. In speaking of him, 
Mr. Jefferson said: 'Charles Burke was to acting what Men-\ 
delssohn was to music. He did not have to work for his effects, 
as I do. He was not analytical, as I am. Whatever he did 
came to him naturally, — as grass grows or water runs. It was 
not talent that informed his art, but genius.' Between these 
half-brothers, Burke and Jefferson, there was a feeling of fellow- 
ship stronger than fraternal attachment, — a degree of affec- 
tionate devotion, which has passed into a stage tradition ; and, 
as man or artist, Charles Burke has no warmer eulogist than 
Joseph Jefferson." 

The memorials that remain of Burke are few and un- 
substantial. Those play-goers who remember a French 
comedian named Leduc (now (lead), who acted at the 
theatre in [4th Street, New York, now Haverly's Thea- 
tre ( 1 881), when " La Grande Duchesse " was first pre- 



CHARLES BURKE. l6l 

sented in America, possess at least Burke's likeness. 
The French actor was one of the company that Bate- 
man brought over from Paris to co-operate with Mile. 
Tostee in the introduction of the Opera BourTe upon 
the American stage. He acted Prince Paul, and sub- 
sequently Menelaus, in " La Belle Helene." He was 
of a strangely winning personality. He never obtruded 
himself. He drifted into and out of the open scenic 
spaces like a star among the light clouds of a summer 
night. His art concealed every vestige of effort. He 
was the perfection of grace. And through all the gen- 
tle drollery of his seemingly unconscious action there 
ran a vein of reticent, wistful sensibility, which, without 
being sadness itself, produced upon others the momen- 
tary effect of sadness. It was the fortune of the pres- 
ent biographer very often to see this exquisite actor, 
with the present Jefferson as a companion spectator, 
and to enjoy in his acting a prodigious delight — at 
that absolute thoroughness of dramatic art which is na- 
ture at nature's best. Leduc, Jefferson said, was more 
like Charles Burke than any man he had ever seen. 
But Burke, he added, had tragic powers, as well as the 
faculty of humor, and would often astonish his associates 
and the public, who had been thinking only of his droll- 
ery, by some sudden dash into tragic passion, or by a 
marvellous self-poise in the realm of pathos. Not im- 
probably Burke as an actor had the mental constitution 
of Hood as a poet, — who, in one mood, could chuckle 
over the farcical theme of ' Miss Kilmansegg and Her 
Precious Leg,' and, in another, could melt the heart 
with ' The Bridge of Sighs,' or awe the fancy with the 



1 62 THE JEFFERSONS. 

sombre image of ' Eugene Aram,' or wake the spirit 
of regretful dreams with ' Inez,' or thrill the deep 
foundations of . the imagination with the wonderful 
poetic magic of ' The Haunted House.' 

In the days of his prosperity as Mose, Mr. F. S. Chan- 
frau opened a theatre, in Brooklyn, styled " The 
Museum," with Charles Burke as stage-manager. On 
the opening night Burke acted the chief comic part 
in a new piece, and spoke the tag. Chanfrau, who 
had been acting elsewhere, hurried thither as soon 
as his performance was ended, impatient to learn 
the result of this new venture. That result was failure. 
The piece had been coldly received, and all Burke's 
efforts had failed to save it. Chanfrau went at once 
to the stage. The curtain had just fallen. The actors 
had dispersed to their rooms. Burke alone remained 
upon the scene. He was standing in the centre 
front of the stage, exactly where he had stood when 
the curtain fell. Motionless, with head bowed, with 
hands clasped, unconscious of all around him, the 
comic genius stood there in the shadow, with the weight 
of disaster on his heart, and with the tears slowly run- 
ning down his face. He could not speak. His sensi- 
tive spirit had taken upon itself the blame and the blight 
of a failure. So, transfigured by loss and sorrow, he 
stands forever in the pantheon of memory ; and round 
him the withering leaves of autumn fall, and cold winds 
sigh in the long grasses, and twilight slowly deepens, and 
the world is far away. 



JEFFERSON THE FOURTH. 

RIP VAN WINKLE. 

" If he come not, then the play is marred." — Shakespeare. 

" It is difficult to render even ordinary jtistice to living merit, with- 
out incurring the suspicion of being influenced by partiality, or by 
motives of a less honorable nature. Yet, as what I shall say of this 
gentleman^ whose friendship I have enjoyed for many years, and still 
possess in unabated cordiality, will be supported by all who are ac- 
quainted with him, I ain tinder no apprehension of suffering by the 
suggestions of malice." — John Taylor. 



These lines by Wordsworth, written in 1800, entitled "A 
Character," and found among that great author's " Poems of 
Sentiment and Reflection," seem singularly applicable to the 
man who is seen and loved in Jefferson's performance of Rip 
Van Winkle: — 

" I marvel how Nature could ever find space 
For so many strange contrasts in one human face : 
There's thought and no thought, and there's paleness and bloom, 
And bustle and sluggishness, pleasure and gloom. 

" There's weakness and strength, both redundant and vain; 
Such strength as, if ever affliction and pain 
Could pierce through a temper that 's soft to disease, 
Would be rational peace, — a philosopher's ease. 

" There 's indifference, alike when he fails or succeeds, 
And attention full ten times as much as there needs ; 
Pride where there 's no envy, there' s so much of joy ; 
And mildness, and spirit both forward and coy. 

" There 's freedom, and sometimes a diffident stare, 
Of shame, scarcely seeming to know that she 's there : 
There 's virtue, the title it surely may claim, 
Yet wants heaven knows what to be worthy the name. 

" This picture from nature may seem to depart, 
Vet the Man would at once run away with your heart: 
And I for five centuries right gladly would be 
Such an odd, such a kind, happy creature as he." 



* 



JEFFERSON THE FOURTH. 



The maternal ancestry of the present representa- 
tive of the Jeffersons is French; and of him, as of 
Garrick, it is to be observed that the blood of three 
nationalities flows in his veins. French, English, and 
Irish were the currents that mingled in Garrick : 
French, English, and Scotch are the currents that 
combine in Jefferson. The inquirer finds Jefferson's 
French ancestry in the Island of St. Domingo. There, 
about the beginning of this century, living in affluence, 
upon his plantation, dwelt M. Thomas, a gentleman v 
newly arrived from France. Little is known about him 
now ; but it is remembered, of his character and con- 
duct in later years, that he was a person of winning 
manners, cheerful fortitude, and resolute mind. He 
had rested for a while in New York, in company with 
his wife, on their journey from France to St. Domingo 
to take possession of an inherited estate ; and in New 
York, on October ist, 1796, was born their daughter, v, 
Cornelia Frances. In the next year they were estab- 
lished in their new home, and there they continued to 
reside till the period of the negro insurrection led by 
Dessalines. At this crisis they had a narrow escape 
from murder, in the massacre of the white population 
by which that revolt was attended. The first rising 



1 66 THE JEFFEKSONS. 

of the negroes against the French in St. Domingo oc- y 
curred in 1791-93, and was succeeded by the tem- 
porary government of Toussaint L'Ouverture. The 
second rising, which resulted in the murder or the 
expatriation of the French residents, was effected in 
1803 ; and it was then that M. Thomas and his family V 
were in peril. They escaped, however, through the 
instrumentality of a negro slave, named Alexandre, 
who — impelled by affectionate fidelity towards his 
master — gave warning of the impending danger, just 
as it was close at hand ; but it was only by precipitate 
flight that M. Thomas was able to elude the doom of 
slaughter which had been pronounced against himself 
and all his household. He fled by night, and, after, 
many perils, escaped to sea in an open boat, accom- 
panied by his wife and daughter, and by the faithful 
servant who had thus saved their lives. The fugitives 
were picked up by an American vessel and carried into 
the port of Charleston, South Carolina. 

M. Thomas was now a poor man, and the rest of his 
days passed in poverty and labor. At first he attempted 
a minor shop-keeping industry of some sort ; but this 
did not succeed. His wife soon died, and his little 
daughter remained his chief care. One day, in a 
Charleston street, he chanced to meet Alexandre Pla- 
cide, whom he had known in France, and who wel- 
comed him as an old friend. Placide, famous as an 
athlete and a rope-dancer, — the father of Henry, 
Thomas, Caroline, Eliza, and Jane Placide, all known, 
in later days upon the stage, — was then man;! 
of the Charleston Theatre, and in that institution 



JEFFERSON THE FOURTH. 1 67 

M. Thomas found employment. He never, indeed, at- 
tempted acting ; but his daughter, who at once became 
a pet with the Placide family, was soon brought forward, 
in the ballet, at the Charleston Theatre, and presently 
was intrusted with minor parts in the plays. This was 
her school, and here she grew up, an actress and a 
singer, early winning for herself an excellent rank in 
the profession, — especially as a vocalist, — which she 
maintained almost to the end of her life. 

" Possessing a fair share of ability as a comic actress," says 
Mr. Ireland, " with a pleasing face and person, and an exquisite 
voice, — which, in power, purity, and sweetness, was unap- 
proached by any contemporary, — she soon eclipsed all rivalry 
in. vocalism ; and, till the more cultivated style of Italy was 
introduced, was considered the model of all excellence. She 
was attached to the Park [New York] for two or three seasons, 
and afterwards removed to Philadelphia, where she became an 
equally distinguished favorite." 

The first husband of Cornelia Frances Thomas was 
the Irish comedian, Thomas Burke, to whom she was 
married in her girlhood. Burke was noted for his fine 
talents and handsome person, and likewise — as this 
lady afterward had sad reason to know — for his dissi- 
pated habits and his gallantry. He was on the Charles- 
ton stage — where she first met with him — as early as 
1802, and therefore he must have been considerably 
older than his wife. He first appeared in New York, 
on April 29th, 181 1, at the Park, and subsequently he 
fulfilled several New York engagements. At a later 
period he resided in Philadelphia, where he became a 
favorite with play-goers, as the dashing, devil-may-care 



1 68 THE JEFFERSONS. 

Irishman. His death occurred, from delirium tremens, 
in 1824, in Baltimore. Wood says he died on June 
6th, 1825. However that may be, his demise was a 
considerable relief to those who were best acquainted 
with him; and on July 27th, 1826, his widow became 
the wife of Joseph Jefferson, the Third of the line of 
actors commemorated in this chronicle. 

A pleasant reminiscent glimpse of the mother of 
Jefferson the Fourth is afforded in the following extract 
from N. M. Ludlow's " Dramatic Life " (1880) : — 

" Finding matters so dull in New York ( 1826), my wife and 
I went to Philadelphia, to pay a visit to our much-esteemed 
friend, Mrs. Cornelia Burke, after whom our first daughter was 
named. We found the lady recently married again, to Mr. 
Joseph Jefferson, scenic artist, afterwards father of Joseph 
Jefferson, of Rip Van Winkle renown. . . . Our meeting with 
this lady was a very pleasant one : we had not seen her since 
the voyage we made with her to Virginia, from New Orleans, 
in the summer of 1S21. We presented to her the little name- 
sake, then five years of age, who was greatly admired by Mrs. 
Jefferson and her friends. (Now, 1881, an old lady, married, 
and residing in the West). 

" We passed a very pleasant week in Philadelphia, occasion- 
ally visiting Mrs. Jefferson, who was always excellent company 
herself; and, in addition to this, we often met with very agree- 
able persons at her house, who were in the habit of visiting her. 
Mrs. Jefferson was of French parentage. . . . Her first efforts 
on the stage were in singing characters, such as Rosina, in the 
comic opera of " Rosina, or the Reapers"; Countess, in "John 
of Paris "; and Virginia, in " Paul and Virginia," and the like. 
I remember with much pleasure her singing in those English 
operas. She performed Blanche of Devon, in the melo-drama 

of "The Lady of the Lake," on the night when 1 made my 
first appearance in Mr. Caldwell's company, in New Orleans, 
in 1821. She also performed speaking characters very well. 



JEFFERSON THE FOURTH. 169 

The first time that I remember to have seen her was at Albany 
(1814-15), in the character of Susan Ashfteld, in "Speed the 
Plough " ; on the occasion when I made my clandestine appear- 
ance as Bob Handy's Servant, and was complimented on it by 
Mr. (Thomas) Burke." 

Mr. and Mrs. Burke had one son, Charles Saint 
Thomas Burke, who became a great comedian, but 
died too soon for his own fame and the happiness of 
his generation. 

Mr. and Mrs. Jefferson had four children, two of 
whom died in infancy, while two have survived to the 
present day : — 

1. Joseph Jefferson. — This is Jefferson the Fourth — 
Rip Van Winkle. 

2. Cornelia Jefferson. — This lady was born in Balti. 
more, Md., October 1st, 1835, an< ^ went on tne stage in child- 
hood, performing in the travelling company of which her 
parents were members, at Chicago, Galena, and other places 
in the West and South, after the year 1837. She accompanied 
her relatives, in their various professional wanderings, during 
the next twelve years. On May 17th, 1849, sne appeared in 
New York, at Chanfrau's National Theatre, acting Little 
Pickle, in " The Spoiled Child." In 1857 and 1858 she was 
connected with the dramatic company of Laura Keene's Thea- 
tre, and she was last seen on the New York stage, at this 
house, after it had become the Olympic — being the second of 
that name. This appearance was made in the autumn of 1867, 
as Titania, in " A Midsummer Night's Dream." The Olympic, 
which had been started by Mrs. John Wood, in 1863, was at 
this time managed by Mr. James E. Hayes {obiit in N. Y. May 
7th, 1873), f° r his father-in-law, Mr. John A. Duff. Since then 
Cornelia Jefferson has been living, in retirement, in Philadel- 
phia. She visited England in 1877. She is now the widow 
of a Mr. Jackson, and has one son, Mr. Charles Jackson, who 
has attempted the stage. 



170 THE JEFFERSONS. 

The mother of Charles Burke and Joseph Jefferson 
died, at Philadelphia, in November, 1849, and herV 
grave — which, a few years later, became also that of 
the former of these sons — is in Ronaldson's Cemetery, 
corner of Bainbridge and Ninth Streets, in that city. 
The present writer, in company with Joseph Jefferson, 
visited this place of rest, not long ago, and found it 
thickly overgrown with flowering shrubs and climbing 
roses. A large white stone marks the spot, inscribed 

"to our mother and our brother, cornelia f. 

Jefferson, Charles Burke." 

In this little grave-yard rest other members of the 
dramatic profession, eminent in their day, and still not 
forgotten. The magnificent Josephine Clifton, who 
died in 1846, is buried there, and there was entombed 
the untimely dust of Samuel Chapman. 

The fate of M. Thomas, the old French ancestor of 
Jefferson the Fourth, was tragically sad. He survived 
till 1827, living, toward the last, in his daughter's house- 
hold. During his latter years he was in continual suffer- 
ing, from hereditary and incurable gout. He bore his 
agonies patiently, till there came a time when he could 
bear no more : the constant and deadly tortures drove 
him to despair. In that condition — frantic with pain, 
hopeless and miserable — the poor old gentleman drove 
out, one morning, to the Market Street Bridge, over 
the Schuylkill River, dismissed his carriage, and, as 
soon as he was left alone, sprang over the parapet and 
was drowned. 

Joseph Jefferson, the representative American come- 
dian of our time, was born at Philadelphia on the 20th 



JEFFERSON THE FOURTH. \J\ 

of February, 1829, in a house which is still standing — 
unchanged except that a shop has been opened on the 
ground-floor of it — at the south-west corner of Spruce 
and Sixth Streets. In childhood he gave many indica- 
tions of an exceptional mind and character, and of the 
artistic abilities that were to be developed in his ma- 
ture years. He was reared amidst theatrical surround- 
ings, and when only four years old was brought upon 
the stage, at the Washington Theatre, by Thomas D. 
Rice, the famous delineator of negro character. This 
comedian, on a benefit occasion, introduced the child, 
blackened and arrayed precisely like himself, into his 
performance of Jim Crow ; and little Joe was carried 
upon the scene in a bag, by the shambling Ethio- 
pian actor, and emptied from it, with the appropriate 
couplet, — 

" Ladies and gentlemen, I 'd have you for to know 
I 'se got a little darkey here, to jump Jim Crow." 

An eye-witness of this first appearance, — that ad- 
mirable actress, Mrs. John Drew, of Philadelphia, — 
says that the boy instantly assumed the exact attitude 
of Jim Crow Rice, and sang and danced in imitation 
of his sable companion, and was a perfect miniature 
likeness of that long, ungainly, grotesque, and exceed- 
ingly droll comedian. 

Thomas D. Rice, thus strangely associated with 
Jefferson, was a remarkable man and had a singular 
career. He was born in New York City, May 20th, 
1808, and died there September 19th, i860. When a 
boy he was employed as a supernumerary at the Park 



172 



Theatre. Afterwards he went into the West. Cowell 
met him, at Cincinnati, in 1829, "a very unassuming, 
modest young man, little dreaming then that he was 
destined to astonish the Duchess of St. Albans, or any- 
body else ; he had a queer hat, very much pointed 
down before and behind, and very much cocked on 
one side." The same writer states that Thomas H. 
Blakeley was the first to introduce negro singing on 
the American stage, and adds that Blakeley's singing 
of the " Coal Black Rose " set the fashion which Rice 
followed. Wemyss says that the original Jim Crow 
was a negro, at Pittsburgh, Pa., named Jim Cuff. The 
veteran actor, Edmon S. Connor, in a talk published 
in the N. Y. Times, June 5th, 1881, asserts that it was 
an old negro slave, owned by a man named Crow, who 
kept a livery-stable, in the rear of the theatre in Louis- 
ville, Ky., managed by Ludlow & Smith, in 1828-29, 
and that this person adopted his master's name, and 
called himself " Jim Crow." Connor adds : — 

" He was much deformed, the right shoulder being drawn 
high up, the left leg stiff and crooked at the knee, giving him a 
painful but laughable limp. He used to croon a queer tune 
with words of his own, and at the end of each stanza would 
give a little jump, and when lie came down he set his 'heel 
a-rockin.' He called it 'jumping Jim Crow.' The words of 
the refrain were : — 



\ 



' Wheel about, turn about, 

1 )o jes so, 
An' ebery time I wheel about, 
I jump J ini ( Iro^i '• ' 

" Rice watched him closely, and saw that here was a eharae- 
ter unknown to the stage. He wrote several stanzas, changed 



JEFFERSON THE FOURTH. 173 

the air somewhat, quickened it, made up exactly like the old 
negro, and sang to a Louisville audience. They were wild 
with delight, and on the first night he was recalled twenty 
times." 

Rice went to England in 1836, and was immedi- 
ately a chief feature in the London theatrical world. 
He there married a Miss Gladstanes. His profession 
yielded him a large competence. It was one of his 
freaks to wear gold pieces on his coat, for buttons ; 
and frequently he was first stupefied with wine, and 
then robbed of these ornaments. He was a wonderful 
actor, in such parts as Wormwood, in Buckstone's farce 
of " The Lottery Ticket," Old Del/, in " Family Jars," 
and Spruce Pink, in "The Virginia Mummy." He 
took his hints from actual life, but, like all creative 
artists, he was an interpreter and not a photographer ; 
and, in that sense, he himself, and not another, was 
the original of all that he did. The moment any man 
accomplishes anything that is out of the ordinary track 
of mediocrity numerous observers are found endeavor- 
ing to detract from his merit by impugning his ori- 
ginality. Well and wisely did old Falstaff say that 
"honor is a mere scutcheon." 

The circumstance of Jefferson's Jim Crow d£but is 
referred to, with another anecdote illustrating his pre- 
cocity, in the "Notes from Memory," by Elizabeth 
Jefferson, his aunt, already quoted ; and William War- 
ren, his second cousin and old comrade, gives a quaint 
relation suggestive of the same unexpected maturity in 
childhood. The comedian, Henry J. Finn, going into 
the green-room, one night, at the Washington Theatre, 



174 THE JEFFERSOXS. 

dressed for the part he was to act, observed this child, 
wrapped in a shawl, and sitting quietly in a corner. 
After various nourishes of action and mimicry, for 
which he was admirable, he paused in front of the 
boy, and, not dreaming that such a tiny creature could 
make any reply whatever, solemnly inquired, " Well, my 
little friend, what do you think of me ? " The child 
looked at him, with serious, thoughtful eyes, and gravely 
answered : " I think you are a very wonderful man." 
Finn was impressed, and perhaps a little disconcerted, 
by this strange, elf-life quaintness and judicial sobriety 
of infancy. 

In 1837, when eight years old, this little lad is found 
at the Franklin Theatre, New York, with his parents, 
and it is recorded that he appeared upon the stage, 
September 30th, in a sword-combat, with " Master 
Titus." Young Jefferson, on this occasion, personated 
a Pirate, while young Titus opposed him in the char- 
acter of a Sailor ; and, at the end of a spirited en- 
counter with swords, the miniature Pirate was prostrate 
upon the earth, and the miniature Sailor bestrode him 
in triumph. The master Titus who figured in this 
scene was a bright boy, — the son of an officer at the 
City Hall of New York, — but his theatrical career 
was prematurely ended, shortly after this time, by the 
accidental explosion of a gun, upon the stage, which 
blinded him. He was acting in " Matteo Falconi," 
with Mr. W. Sefton, when this disaster occurred. Mr. 
and Mrs. Jefferson left New York at the end of the y 
year 1837, taking their children with them, — Charles 
Burke, Cornelia, and Joseph, — and went to Chicago ; 



JEFFERSON THE FOURTH. 1 75 

and for the next twelve years this family led the life of 
the strolling player, wandering through the West and 
South, and even following the armies of the Republic 
into Mexico : so that, until he came forward at Chan- 
frau's National Theatre, as Jack Rackbottle, in " Jona- 
than Bradford," — September 10th, 1849, — Jefferson 
was not again seen in the metropolis. Those interven- 
ing twelve years were crowded with vicissitudes and 
darkened with privation and trouble. But, it is an old 
story, and proved in the experience of every man who 
has made a great mark in the world, that 

" Who ne'er his bread in sorrow ate, 

Who ne'er the mournful midnight hours 
Weeping upon his bed has sat, 

He knows you not, ye Heavenly Powers ! " 

Often in those days the youthful Jefferson participated 
in performances that were given in the dining-rooms of 
country hotels, without a scrap of scenery, and with no 
adjunct, to create the illusion of a stage, except a strip 
of board nailed to the floor sustaining a row of tallow 
candles. Not the less were these representations given 
with all the earnestness, force, and thorough care of 
brilliant and accomplished actors. This kind of expe- 
rience, indeed, was not uncommon with the children 
of Thespis, in the earlier times of the American stage, 
when, as may be read in Ludlow's chronicle, the stroll- 
ing actors floated in flat-boats down the great rivers of 
the West, and now and then shot wild beasts upon their 
banks, and often played in the barns of the friendly or 
the frugal-minded and acquisitive farmer. Land jour- 
neys from town to town were made in wagons, or ox- 



176 THE JEFFERSONS. 

carts, or on foot, while cold and hunger not infrequently 
were the harsh companions of this precarious life. Once 
the Jefferson company, roaming in a region far from 
any settlement, had found a more than commonly spa- 
cious barn, and a farmer of more than commonly be- 
nevolent aspect, and it was thereupon resolved to give 
a performance in this auspicious spot. Written hand- 
bills, distributed through all the neighborhood, pro- 
claimed this joyful design. There was a good response. 
The farmers and their wives and children, from far and 
near, came over the hills to see the play. The receipts 
amounted to twenty dollars, and this was viewed as 
nothing less than a godsend by the poor players, who 
saw in it the means of food and of a ride to the next 
town. But no commensurate allowance, it turned out, 
had been made for the hospitality of the genial owner 
of the barn. " I guess that '11 about pay my bill," he 
said, as he slipped the total receipts into his pocket ; 
and so this venture was rounded and settled, and the 
rueful comedians walked away. On another occasion, 
it chanced that they had hired a wagon to convey them 
from one town to another, a distance of ten or fifteen 
miles, in Tennessee, and the driver, after proceeding 
some distance on the journey, demanded payment of 
his due j when being told that this would be forthcom- 
ing out of the proceeds of their next performance, he 
turned them from his vehicle, and left them on a forest 
road in a rain-storm, from which predicament they were 
rescued, after some hours, by a friendly ox-cart. Amid 
5< enes like these young Jefferson learned his early les- 
sons of an actor's life; and, aside • from barely three 



JEFFERSON THE FOURTH. 1 77 

months at school which he once enjoyed, this was the 
only kind of training that he ever received. In Mex- 
ico, when the war broke out, in 1845, he was among 
the camp-followers of the American army, and, with his 
comrades, gave performances in tents. He saw Gen- 
eral Taylor on the banks of the Rio Grande ; he heard 
the thunder of the guns at Palo Alto ; he stood beside 
the tent in which the gallant Ringgold lay dying • he 
witnessed the bombardment of Metamoras, and, two 
nights after the capture of that city, he acted there, in 
the Spanish theatre. It is obvious from even this pass- 
ing suggestion of the comedian's adventures and vicis- 
situdes that he has worn the gipsy's colors and known 
the gipsy's freedom ; that the world has been shown to 
him without disguises ; and that his nature has been de- 
veloped and moulded through the discipline of labor, 
the ministry of sorrow, and the grand and priceless 
tutelage of experience. 

The principal features of the cast of, "Jonathan 
Bradford," in which Jefferson came out at Chanfrau's 
New National Theatre, in 1849, ano ^ which may be cited 
'here as showing by what players and influences he was 
then surrounded, were as follows : — 

Jonathan Bradford John Crocker. 

Dan McCraisy Redmond Ryan. 

Jack Rackbottle Joseph Jefferson. 

Caleb Scrimmage Charles Burke. 

Anne Bradford Mrs. H. Isherwood. 

Sally Sighabout Mrs. Sutherland. 

" In and Out of Place " was also acted, — with Mrs. 
Charles Mestayer as Letty. This lady, formerly Miss 



I78 THE JEFFERSONS. 

Pray, subsequently Mrs. Barney Williams, was now in the 
heyday of her buxom vivacity. Miss Gertrude Dawes 
was connected with the company, as a dancer. In 
" The Poor Soldier," which completed the bill for this 
night, Charles Burke appeared as Darby, W. H. Ham- 
ilton as Patrick, and Miss Lockyer as Norah. Cupid, 
also, seems to have been of this party ; for Mrs. Suth- 
erland was afterwards wedded to Burke, and Miss 
Lockyer to Jefferson. The season lasted from Sep- 
tember 10th, 1849, to July 6th, 1850, and among the 
players who appeared at the National during that time, 
and with whom, accordingly, Jefferson was associated, 
were Mrs. Muzzy, Mrs. Bowers, and her sister Miss 
Crocker (afterwards Mrs. F. B. Conway), Mr. Chan- 
frau, — then famous as Mosc, — Wyzeman Marshall, 
Barney Williams, Harry Watkins, Emily Mestayer, 
Fanny Herring, and Anna Cruise (afterwards Mrs. W. 
Co well). Old Booth acted at the National, in those 
days ; the inveterate wag, Harry Perry, was seen there ; 
Edwin Booth made his first New York appearance on 
that stage ; Joseph Procter there presented his " Nick 
of the Woods " ; John R. Scott displayed there the 
exuberant melo-drama of the past ; the late George 
L. Fox began his metropolitan career in that theatre ; 
the fascinating Julia Pelby passed across its scene, in 
"The Child of the Regiment"; Charles Dibdin Pitt 
displayed his grand figure and plastic art, as Virginias ; 
and Yankee Locke, James H. McVicker, and Jim Crow 
Rice there let slip the spirits of their humor, and paid 
their tribute to the rosy gods of mirth. In other quar- 
ters Burton, Blake, and Mitchell were the sovereigns 



JEFFERSON THE FOURTH. 179 

of laughter ; Hamblin and Forrest were the kings of 
tragedy; and John Brougham, Lester Wallack, and 
George Jordan held the field of elegant comedy, 
against all comers, and felt, with Alexander, that 
" none but the brave deserve the fair." 

On leaving the National Theatre, in the early Fall of 
1850, Jefferson and his wife proceeded to the old 
Olympic, where they acted in November ; and about 
this time the young comedian applied, but without suc- 
cess, for a position in Brougham's Lyceum, — opened 
December 23d, that year. He wished to be stage- 
manager ; and, had he been accepted, the fate of that 
theatre, and the whole after career of the beloved and 
lamented John Brougham, might have been very differ- 
ent from what they were, — an almost continuous tissue 
of misfortunes. A little later, in the season of 185 1- 
52, Jefferson was attached to the company of Anna 
Thillon and the Irish comedian Hudson, who gave 
musical plays, at Niblo's Garden ; and shortly after- 
wards at this theatre he was associated with Mr. and 
Mrs. John Drew, William Rums Blake, Lester Wallack, 
Mrs. Stephens, Mrs. Conover (now Mrs. J. H. Stod- 
dart), and Charles Wheatleigh. He then formed a 
partnership with Mr. John Ellsler, and took a dramatic 
company through a circuit of theatres in the South, — 
visiting Charleston, Savannah, Macon, Atlanta, Augusta, 
Wilmington, and other cities. After this tour was over 
he settled for a while in Philadelphia, and then in 
Baltimore, — first at the Holliday Street Theatre, and 
then at the Baltimore Museum, where he was mana- 
ger. In the summer of 1856 he made his first trip 



ISO THE JEFFERSONS. 

to Europe, his purpose being to study the acting then 
to be seen on the London and the Paris stage. On 
November i8th, that year, the beautiful Laura Keene 
opened her new theatre, afterwards the second Olym- 
pic, at Nos. 622 and 624 Broadway, New York, and 
Jefferson was soon added to the force, already very 
strong, of her recruits, — a company that included, 
among others, George Jordan, Charles Wheatleigh, 
James G. Burnett, J. H. Stoddart, T. B. Johnston, 
Charles Peters, Ada Clifton, Mrs. Stephens, Mary Wells, 
Cornelia Jefferson, and Charlotte Thompson. The sec- 
ond season opened on August 31st, 1857, with "The 
Heir at Law," and Jefferson made a strong hit as Dr. 
Pangloss. On the opening night of the third season 
he appeared as Augustus, in " The Willow Copse." 
Charles W. Couldock acted Luke Fielding, Edward A. 
Sothern Sir Richard Vaughan, and Laura Keene Rose 
Fielding. Mr. and Mrs. W. R. Blake, Sara Stevens, 
Effie Germon, and Charles Walcot joined the com- 
pany this season ; and it was now that Blake, — a great 
actor, but one who had a tendency to " mar all " with 
his coarseness, — being resentful of Jefferson's invariable 
and excellent custom of expunging the indelicate lines 
from the " old comedies," made the vain attempt to stig- 
matize him as "the Sunday-school comedian." There 
was a pretty little scene in the green-room, and Blake 
was discomfited. Well for him it would have been had 
he heeded the lesson. "You take an unfair and unmanlyN 
advantage of people," said Jefferson, "when you force 
them to listen to your coarseness. They are for the 
time imprisoned, and have no choice but to hear and 



1 82 THE JEFFERSONS. 

Buddicombe Henry McDouall. 

Florence Trenchard Laura Keene.* 

Mrs. Mountchessington . . . Mary Wells.* 

Augusta EfFie Germon. 

Georgina ........ Mrs. E. A. Sothern. 

Mary Meredith Sara Stevens. 

Sharp Miss Flynn. 

Skillet Mrs. M. Levick. 

The season of 1858-59 at Laura Keene's Theatre \ 
lasted till July 14th in the latter year, when Jeffer- ^ 
son's relations with her company were ended, and on 
the 14th of September following he appeared in the 
dramatic company engaged by Dion Boucicault and 
William Stuart for the Winter Garden Theatre, then 
opened with Mr. Boucicault's adaptation of "The 
Cricket on the Hearth." This theatre, originally called 
Tripler Hall, had been known as the Metropolitan 
under W. E. Burton's management, and later as Laura 
Keene's Varieties. Jefferson appeared. as Caleb Plum- 
mer, and also as Mr. Bobtail ; and in the course 
of the ensuing six months he was seen as Newman 
Noggs, Salem Scudder, Gra?iby Gag, Sir Brian, and 
Rip Van Winkle. The first presentation of Mr. Bouci- 
cault's powerful drama of " The Octoroon " (December 
5th, 1859) was an important incident of this season; 
and on February 2d, i860, a new theatrical version 
of Dickens's novel of " Oliver Twist," made by Jeffer- 
son himself, was for the first time presented, — the with- 
drawal of Mr. Boucicault, who left the theatre suddenly, 
on a disagreement as to business, having opened the 
way for the presentment of new attractions. James 

* Dead (1881). 



JEFFERSON THE FOURTH. 183 

W. Wallack, Jr., a glorious romantic actor and one of 
the most interesting and lovable of men, made an aston- 
ishing and memorable success, as Fagin the Jew, and 
Matilda Heron acted with a wonderful wild power as 
Nci7icy. There were in the Winter Garden company, at 
one time, Jefferson, Wallack, Jordan, George Jamieson, 
Harry Pearson, T. B. Johnston, George Holland, A. 
H. Davenport, J. H. Stoddart, Matilda Heron, Mrs. 
John Wood, Sara Stevens, lone Burke, Mrs. W. R. 
Blake, and Mrs. J. H. Allen. Mr. and Mrs. Bouci- 
cault had retired ; proceeding to Laura Keene's The- 
atre, where they remained from January 9th to May 
1 2th, i860. The former here produced for the first 
time his highly esteemed plays of "The Heart of Mid 
Lothian" (January 9th) and "The Colleen Bawn " 
(March 29th). The Winter Garden season, mean- 
time, was still further signalized by the production 
(Feb. 19th) of Mrs. Sydney Frances Cowell Bateman's 
play of " Evangeline," — a work based on Longfellow.'s 
poem of that name, — in which Miss Kate Bateman 
began the more mature portion of her professional 
career, and in which Jefferson acted the humorous 
character, not much to the author's satisfaction. " It 
is the best comic part my wife ever wrote," Bateman 
said ; and " It is the worst comic part I ever played " 
was Jefferson's reply. He withdrew from the Winter 
Garden in the spring of i860, and on May 16th 
opened Laura Keene's Theatre for a summer season, 
which lasted till August 31st. The pieces presented 
were " The Invisible Prince," " Our Japanese Em- 
bassy," " The Tycoon, or Young America in Japan," 



I 84 THE JEFFERSOKS. 

and "Our American Cousin." Jefferson, Sothern, 
and Couldock reappeared, acting their original parts, 
in the latter piece, while Mrs. Wood enacted Flor- 
ence. In Jefferson's dramatic company, at this time, 
were Mrs. John Wood, Mrs. Henrietta Chanfrau, Mrs. 
H. Vincent, lone Burke, Cornelia Jefferson, Hetty 
Warren, J. H. Stoddart, and James G. Burnett. In 
those seasons at the Winter Garden and Laura Keene's 
Theatre the foundations of Jefferson's fame were fin- 
ished and cemented, and the building of its noble struc- 
ture was well begun. 

Early in 1861 Jefferson's first wife suddenly died; 
and this bereavement, together with apprehension 
prompted by his own delicate health, now persuaded 
him to seek refuge and relief in travel and new 
scenes. He formed, indeed, at this time the resolu- 
tion to appear eventually on the London stage, and he 
planned in substance the exact career which he has 
since fulfilled. There has not been much of either 
luck or chance in Jefferson's life ; and, though a fortu- 
nate man, he is emphatically a man who has compelled 
fortune by acting upon a distinct purpose, wise ideas, 
and a decided resolution. At first he proceeded to 
California, arriving in San Francisco on June 26th, 
1 86 1, and on July 8th, immediately following, he made 
his first appearance in that city. This event occurred 
at Maguire's Opera House, in Washington Street : and 
Jefferson's California season lasted till November 
4th, that year, when he made his farewell appearance. 
The next day he sailed for Australia, and in that great 
country, with its magnificent climate, its beautiful seen- 



JEFFERSON THE FOURTH. 1 85 

ery, its progressive civilization, and its brightly intelli- 
gent and warm-hearted people, he passed four of the 
most prosperous and beneficial years of his life. Here 
he completely recovered his health ; and here he won 
golden opinions, on every hand, for his acting of Asa 
Trenchard, Caleb Plummer, Bob Brierly, Rip Van 
Winkle, Dogberry, and many other characters. He 
gained hosts of. friends, too; and among his comrades 
at this time were B. L. Farjeon, the novelist, — who since 
then has married his eldest daughter, — Henry Edwards, 
George Fawcett Rowe, — the best Micawber of our 
stage, — Louis A. Lewis, the , composer, and James 
Smith, the brilliant editor. One of the notable incidents 
of his professional life at Melbourne was the success of 
Rosa Dunn (now Mrs. Lewis), who acted Mary Mei'e- 
dith in " Our American Cousin," Hero in " Much 
Ado," and kindred characters, and showed herself to 
be a lovely actress. From Melbourne he proceeded 
to Tasmania, where — among what Mr. H. J. Byron calls 
the Tasmaniacs — he met with prodigious favor. His 
performance of Bob Brierly, on one occasion, at Ho- 
bart Town, drew an audience that included upwards of 
six hundred ticket-of-leave men ; and, though at first 
this anything but light brigade contemplated him with 
looks of implacable ferocity, they ended by giving him 
their hearts, in a sort of hurricane of acclamation. 
Leaving Tasmania, he sailed for Callao, and passed a 
little time on the Pacific coast of South America, and 
at the isthmus of Panama. Mr. Dan Symons, well re- 
membered for his piquant acting of Dr. Cains and 
similar parts, had accompanied Jefferson from Aus- 



1 86 THE JEFFERSONS. 

tralia, and was thenceforth for a long time the com- 
panion of his travels (Obiit 1871). At Panama 
they took passage for England, and on arriving in 
London the comedian immediately commissioned Mr. 
Boucicault to revamp the old play of " Rip Van 
Winkle." 

" He asked Boucicault to reconstruct it," writes Clarke Da- 
vis, in the " Lippincott " article previously cited, " and give it the 
weight of his name. Many of the suggestions of changes came 
from Jefferson, and one at least from Shakespeare. Boucicault 
shaped them in a week, . . . but he had no faith in the suc- 
cess of his work, and told Jefferson that it could not possi- 
bly keep the stage for more than a month. While much of 
the first and third act was the conception of Burke, part of each 
was Jefferson's. . . . The impressive ending of the first act is 
wholly Boucicault's, but the climax of the third — the recogni- 
tion — is Shakespeare's. ... In ' Rip Van Winkle ' the child 
struggles to a recognition of her father, while in 'Lear' the 
father struggles to recognize his child. Compare the two situa- 
tions, — that of Lear and Cordelia with that of Meenie and Rip, — 
and the source of Boucicault's inspiration will be apparent ; and 
only as Shakespeare is greater than Boucicault is the end of the 
fourth act of ' Lear ' greater than the third act of ' Rip.' It 
is the most beautiful of all human passions, — the love be- 
tween father and child, — which informs them both, and which 
makes them both take hold upon the heartstrings with a grasp 
of iron. The second act of ' Rip Van Winkle,' which is re- 
markable as being wholly a monologue, is entirely Jefferson's 
conception." 

The origin of " Rip Van Winkle " as a play is ob- 
scure. The story, by Washington Irving, as every 
reader knows, is contained in his beautiful "Sketch 
Book," which was published in [819. Bayard Taylor 
mentions the legend as of remote German origin. 



JEFFERSON THE FOURTH. 1 87 

Hackett produced " Rip Van Winkle," at the old Park 
Theatre, New York, on April 2 2d, 1830 ; and probably 
Hackett was himself the author of the version that he 
produced. Charles B. Parsons, however, an actor who 
turned clergyman (1803-1871), had acted Rip, at least 
six months before that date, in Cincinnati. This is 
mentioned by Ludlow, who says that he himself bought 
a MS. copy of the play, in New York, in the summer of 
1828, and produced it, in Cincinnati, the next season ;* 
and the same writer notices that Charles Burke, who 

* " Rip Van Winkle " was presented at the Walnut Street Theatre, 
Philadelphia, as early as October 30th, 1829, with William Chapman 
as Rip. Mrs. Samuel Chapman (Elizabeth Jefferson), Miss Anderson 
(now either Mrs. Saunders or Mrs. Germon), and "J. Jefferson " (prob- 
ably John), were in the cast. The piece is thought to have been of Eng- 
lish origin, and written by a Mr. Kerr. This may have been another 
draft of the same play that Ludlow produced in Cincinnati, — at about 
the same time, or a little earlier. Hackett supplemented his first Park 
Theatre essay in the part of Rip by producing the old piece at the Bow- 
ery, New York, August 10th, 1830 ; and on April 15th, 1831, he again 
brought out " Rip Van Winkle" at the Park, — "altered," by himself, 
"from a piece written and produced in London." The same actor pre- 
sented Bernard's version, for the first time in America, at the New York 
Park, September 4th, 1833. The eccentric and generous Tom Flynn 
(1 804-1 849) acted Rip, July 29th, 1833, at the Richmond Hill Theatre, 
New York. A version by Mr. John H. Hewitt, of Baltimore, was per- 
formed at the Front Street Theatre, in that city, in the season of 1833- 
34, with William Isherwood as Rip. Charles Burke acted the part at 
the New National, January 7th, 1850, having made for himself an amend- 
ment of the old piece, which Hackett subsequently preferred to the 
Bernard version. The subject seems to have been viewed as common 
property. It will be observed that Parsons, Chapman, Hackett, Yates, 
Flynn, Isherwood, and Burke, were all predecessors of Jefferson in Rip 
Van Winkle, and probably there were others ; but also it will be ob- 
served that Jefferson has treated the part in an entirely original man- 
ner, lifting it into the realm of poetry, and making it a new character. 
— W. W. 



1 88 THE JEFFERSONS. 

long afterwards followed Hackett in the part, made use 
of a stage version similar to this one. The Burke copy, 
though, was largely his own work. Hackett visited 
England in 1832 (it was his second expedition thither), 
and at that time* Bayle Bernard made for him a new 
draft of the piece, in which he appeared in London. 
Bernard had already made one for Yates, which was 
produced, in that same year, at the London Adelphi, 
with Yates, John Reeve, J. B. Buckstone, O. Smith, 
W. Bennett, and Miss Novello in the cast. It is, per- 
haps, impossible to ascertain who made the first play 
that was ever acted on the subject of " Rip Van Win- 
kle." 'The Hackett copy may have been bought by 
the comedian from some obscure literary hack, and 
the Ludlow copy may have come from the same source. 
The evidence, though, seems to prove that, whoever 
may have been the first dramatist of the subject, Par- 
sons was the first representative of the part. The Burke 
version was not produced till 1849, at tne Arch Street 
Theatre, Philadelphia, — Burke acting Rip, and Jeffer- 
son acting the innkeeper, Scth. In after years Hackett 
adopted this copy, and so did Jefferson ; but the latter 
comedian made changes in its construction and text. 
It was a mournful sort of illustration of the mutability of 
human affairs that as the fame of Hackett declined the 
fame of Jefferson arose, till at last there came a time when 
the old actor of Rip laid aside the part, and was content 
to sit in front, among the admiring spectators of the Rip 
Van Winkle of the new age. Jefferson's performance 
of Rip is a very different work from Hackett's, and a 
better and greater work ; but not less sad was the moral 
to be drawn from that strange spectacle : — 



JEFFERSON THE FOURTH. 189 

" 'Tis certain, greatness, once fallen out with fortune, 
Must fall out with men too : What the declin'd is 
He shall as soon read in the eyes of others 
As feel in his own fall. . . . 
The present eye praises the present object/' 

The Burke copy answered Jefferson's purpose for a 
long time ; but, at last, under his numerous changes, it 
became almost as nebulous as the unwritten constitu- 
tion of England ; and it was the sense of this fact, 
together with the wish to see his own idea of the pos- 
sibilities of the work put into a practicable shape, that 
led him to employ the ingenious and sparkling pen of, 
Mr. Boucicault, in its reconstruction. The piece, as it 
now stands, was written, and, on September 4th, 1865, 
Jefferson appeared in it, at the London Adelphi. His 
success was great, and it has ripened into unquestion- 
able, unassailable, auspicious, and beneficent perma- 
nence. 

A singular incident preceded this debut. On the 
night before his first appearance in London, Jefferson, 
who was naturally nervous and apprehensive, retired to 
his apartment, and, in a mood of intense thought and ab- 
straction, proceeded to make himself up for the third act 
of " Rip Van Winkle." This done, and quite oblivious 
of his surroundings, he now began to act the part. Dom- 
inie Sampson himself was never more absent-minded. 
The house, it should be said, fronted on Regent Street. 
The window-curtains happened to be raised, and the 
room was brightly lighted, so that the view from with- 
out was commodious and uninterrupted. Not many 
minutes passed before it began to be improved. A 



190 THE JEFFERSONS. 

London crowd is quick to assemble, and, when assem- 
bled, difficult to disperse. So it proved now. Inside, 
the absorbed and inadvertent comedian unconcernedly 
went on acting Rip Van Winkle ; outside, the curious 
multitude, thinking him a sort of comic lunatic, choked 
up the street till it became impassable. The police 
were summoned, and with difficulty fought their way 
to the spot. The landlady was finally reached and 
alarmed ; and the astonished actor, brought back to 
the world by a clamor at his door, inquiring if he was 
ill, at length realized the situation, and suspended his 
rehearsal. 

The British public instantly took Rip Van Winkle to 
its heart. " Mr. Jefferson achieved a triumphant suc- 
cess on the night of his first appearance in London," 
says Mr. C. E. Pascoe [" The Dramatic List," p. 190], 
" and he has now the reputation of being one of the 
most genuine artists who have at any time appeared on 
the English stage." " In Mr. Jefferson's hands," wrote 
the broad-minded, true, and kindly John Oxenford, "the 
character of Rip Van Winkle becomes the vehicle for 
an extremely refined psychological exhibition." 

Jefferson arrived in New York, on his return from 
England, August 13th, 1866, and on September 3d ap- 
peared at the Olympic Theatre, as Rip Van Winkle. 
The performance was received with delight by, all classes 
of spectators, and the fame of its beauty ran over the 
land like fire along the prairies. The comedian also 
acted in this engagement Asa Trenchard, Caleb Plum' 
mer, Mr. Woodcock^ and Tobias Shortcut, alter which 
he departed on a tour of the West and South. The 



JEFFERSON THE FOURTH. 191 

next year, 1867, he was at the Olympic Theatre again 
(from September 9th to October 26th), and played noth- 
ing but Rip Van Winkle, which drew crowded houses ; 
and, on his departure, he left " A Midsummer Night's 
Dream " on that stage, with a panorama by Telbin, 
which he had brought from England. Mr. George L. 
Fox impersonated Bottom. The beautiful play had a 
run of one hundred, consecutive representations. Dur- 
ing his tour of the country this year, Jefferson put 
into rehearsal, at the Varieties Theatre, New Orleans, 
then managed by the sparkling and popular light come- 
dian William R. Floyd, the comedy of "Across the 
Atlantic," by Tom Robertson ; but, feeling dissatisfied 
with himself in the character of Col. White, he sent 
back the piece to its author, with $500, and Robertson 
subsequently sold it to Sothern, by whom it was im- 
proved in the text, and produced at the London Hay- 
market, under the title of " Home." Mr. Lester Wallack 
afterwards brought it out at his theatre in New York, 
and to this day Col. White continues to be one of the 
happiest impersonations of that polished, glittering, and 
delightful comedian. The summer of 1868 was passed 
by Jefferson among the mountains of Pennsylvania; 
but on August 31st he came out at McVicker's Theatre, 
Chicago, and it was then that the Rev. Robert Coilyer 
said of him : — 

" I never saw such power, I never remarked such nature, in 
any Christian pulpit that it was ever my privilege to sit under, 
as in Joseph Jefferson's Rip Van Winkle. ... So simple, 
so true, so beautiful, so moral ! No sermon written in the 
world, except that of Christ when he stood with the adulterous 



192 THE JEFFERSONS. 

woman, ever illustrated the power of love, to conquer evil and 
to win the wanderer, as that little part does, so perfectly em- 
bodied by this genius which God has given us, to show in the 
drama the power of love over the sins of the race." 

Jefferson had married in 1867. In 1869 he bought 
a large estate near Hohokus, New Jersey, in the lovely 
little valley of the Saddle River, and another, a lonely 
and gorgeous tropical island, ten miles west of New 
Iberia, in Louisiana, hard by the prairie home of the 
exiled Acadians of "Evangeline." On May 4th, that 
year, he began an engagement in Boston ; and from 
August 2d till September i8th he w r as at Edwin Booth's 
new theatre in New York, still enacting Rip Van Win- 
kle. Then came the most remarkable engagement he 
ever played in that city, beginning on August 15th, 
1870, and lasting till January 7th, 1871, devoted exclu- 
sively to Rip, and attended by a constant multitude. 
Between Jefferson and Edwin Booth — whom no man 
ever knew well except to honor and love, and whose 
great services to the stage have equally been a blessing 
to his countrymen and a source of pure and permanent 
renown to himself — there has existed for many years 
an affectionate friendship ; and, to theatrical readers at 
least, the fact will have its peculiar significance, that no 
scrap of writing was ever used between them in the 
business of, these engagements. The year 1872 was\ 
signalized by the severe and dangerous illness of the 
comedian, who was attacked with glaucoma; but a 
skilful operation, on bis left eye, performed by Dr. 
Reuling, of Baltimore, early in June, averted blind-) 
ncss, and soon restored his health. He reappeared 



JEFFERSON THE FOURTH. 193 

upon the stage, January 1st, 1873, at Ford's Opera 
House, Baltimore, and was received with an affec- 
tionate greeting, in which the whole country joined. 
On July 9th, in the ensuing summer, accompanied by 
his wife and by William Warren, the comedian, he sailed 
for England ; but this was a pleasure trip, and he did 
not act while abroad. The return voyage began on 
August 1 6th, and on September 1st Rip Van Winkle 
was again seen at Booth's Theatre. The next year, 
1874, on September 3d, he began his farewell engage- 
ment at the same house, and in June, 1875, ^ e went 
again to England, — this time on a professional expe- 
dition. He remained abroad two years and a half, 
his first London engagement, at the Princess's, ex- 
tending from November 1st, 1875, to April 29th, 1876, 
and his second, from Easter, 1877, to the ensuing mid- 
summer, when he went to the Haymarket for a brief 
season of farces, under the management of John S. 
Clarke. In London, and in other cities of Great Brit- 
ain, his acting continued to stimulate the public enthu- 
siasm, and was everywhere hailed with sympathy and 
admiration. " Mr. Jefferson's departure," said the 
" London Telegraph," " means the loss of one of the 
most interesting and intellectual forms of amusement. 
. . . His picture is engraven on our memories. . . . 
There will be no lack of smiling faces when London is 
once more favored with the presence of so genial, ac- 
complished, and sympathetic an artist." 

Jefferson arrived home on October 17th, 1877, and 
on October 28th, at Booth's Theatre, under the man- 
agement of Mr. Augustin Daly, again accosted his 



194 THE JEFFERSONS. 

countrymen as Rip Van Winkle. A warm-hearted 
welcome greeted him, and he again made a successful 
tour of the United States. In 1878, he paid a second 
visit to California, and on December 16th, that year 
he acted in New York, at the Fifth Avenue Theatre, 
under the direction of Daniel H. Harkins and Stephen 
Fiske. After that he was absent from the metropolis 
of the East till October, 1879, when he appeared at the 
Grand Opera House ; and in that theatre his New 
York engagements have since been fulfilled. In the 
autumn of 1 880 he effected, at the Arch Street Thea- 
tre, Philadelphia, a careful and brilliant revival of " The 
Rivals," and made an extraordinary hit as Bob Acres ; 
and his professional exertions have since been divided 
between Acres and Rip Van Winkle. These two 
characters, together with Asa Trcnchard, Caleb Plum- 
mer, Dr. Pangloss, Dr. Ollapod, Bob Brierly, Mr. 
Golightly, Tobias Shortcut, Hugh de Brass, and Tracy 
Coach are the only parts that Jefferson has acted within 
the last fifteen years. 

Jefferson has been twice married. His first wife, 
to whom he was wedded on May 19th, 1850, in New » 
York, was Margaret Clements Lockycr, a native of 
Burnharn, Somersetshire, England, born September 
6th, 1832, and brought to America, by her parents, V 
while yet a child. She went on the stage when about 
sixteen years old, and early in her career was con- 
nected with the Museum at Troy, New York. Ireland 
mentions that she appeared at the Bowery Theatre, 
New York, on November 6th, 1847,011 the occasion 
of the benefit of Thomas H. Blakeley. " Chanfrau 



JEFFERSON THE FOURTH. 195 

and Mrs. Timm, from the Olympic, enacted Jeremiah 
Clip and Jane Chatter ly, in 'The Widow's Victim,' 
and a pas de deux was executed by the Misses Barber 
and Lockyer. The latter was young and talented." 
She is mentioned, on another occasion, as having acted 
Norah, in "The Poor Soldier." * At the time of her 
meeting and marriage with Jefferson she was a mem- 
ber of the company at the National Theatre, New 
York. After her marriage she did not continuously 
pursue the dramatic profession, nor did she at any 
time acquire exceptional distinction as an actress. 
Her death occurred on February 18th, 1861, in 
Twelfth Street, New York, and she was buried at 
Cypress Hills, Long Island. 

The children of this union were the following : — 

1. Charles Burke Jefferson. — Born at Macon, Georgia, 
March 20th, 1851. This son adopted the stage, and made his 
first regular professional appearance, November 26th, 1869, at 
McVicker's Theatre, Chicago. The occasion was that of his 
father's benefit, and Charles, a handsome youth, of eighteen, acted 
Dickoy, in " The Spectre Bridegroom." He has acted other 
parts since then, but has not steadily pursued the dramatic pro- 
fession, and is now in retirement from the stage. He mani- 
fested unmistakable talents for acting. 

2. Margaret Jane Jefferson. — Born at New York, July 
4th, 1853. She was never on the stage, and is now the wife of 
Benjamin L. Farjeon, the distinguished English novelist, to 
whom she was. married, in London, in June, 1877. 

3. Frances Florence Jefferson. — Born at Baltimore, 
Maryland, July 9th, 1855; died there, December 12th, 1855. 

* "The Poor Soldier." Comic Opera, by John O'Keefe. 179S. 
Altered, and improved, by the author, from his earlier farce (1783) of 
" The Shamrock." — Wood mentions that this piece was a favorite with 
George Washington. — W. W. 



196 THE JEFFERSONS. 

4. Joseph Jefferson, Jr. — Born at Richmond, Virginia, 
in September, 1S56; died there in 1857. 

5. Thomas Jefferson. — Born at New York in 1S57. This 
is Jefferson the Fifth. In early boyhood he was sent to 
London, and afterwards to Paris, to be educated. Having 
adopted the stage, he made his first regular professional ap- 
pearance, at Edinburgh, in the character of Cocdes, in " Rip 
Van Winkle," in 1877, acting in his father's theatrical com- 
pany. He was engaged at Wallack's Theatre, New York, in 
January, 1880, for the part of Auatole, in " A Scrap of Paper," 
and he again played the same part there, in March, 1SS1. V hen 
his father revived "The Rivals," September 13th, 1SS0, at the 
Arch Street Theatre, Philadelphia, he was cast for Fag, and in 
that mercurial type of bland mendacity and good-natured assur- 
ance he has made a pleasing impression. The earnest good 
wishes of many friends already anticipate for him a bright 
career. 

6. Josephine Duff Jefferson. — Born at New York, 
November 10th, 1859. She never was on the stage. 

The second marriage of Mr. Jefferson occurred on 
December 20th, 1867, at Chicago. His bride was 
Miss Sarah Warren, a daughter of his father's second 
cousin, Mr. Henry Warren, brother of the Boston co- 
median. The children of this marriage are : — 

1. Joseph Warren Jefferson. — Bora at New York, July 

6th, 1869. 

2. Henry Jefferson. — Born at Chicago, Illinois. Died, 
at London, England, November 5th, 1S75. Buried at Cy] 
Hills, I.. I. 

3. William Wini i r Jefferson. — Born in Bedford House, 
Tavistoi k Square, London, April 25th, 1876, and christened, on 
June 27th, the same year, in the Church of the Holy Trinity — 
the Shakespeare church — at Stratford on Avon. 

Jefferson the Fourth, resembling his grandfather in 

this as in sonic other particulars, has shown remark- 




JEFFERSON THE FOURTH. 197 

able versatility in the dramatic art, not only by the 
wealth of contrasted attributes lavished by him upon 
Rip Van Winkle, which he has made almost a com- 
plete epitome of human nature and representative 
experience, but by the number and variety of the 
parts that he has acted. A list of some of these 
characters is given here : — 



PARTS ACTED BY JEFFERSON THE FOURTH. 

Rip Van Winkle, in the drama of that name. Old version 
by Charles Burke. 1849. New one by Dion Boucicault. Adel- 
phi, London. 1865. 

Bob Acres, in " The Rivals." 

Dogberry and also Verges, in Shakespeare's comedy of 
" Much Ado About Nothing." 

Touchstone, in Shakespeare's comedy of " As You Like It." 

Roderigo, in Shakespeare's tragedy of " Othello." 

Dr. Ollapod, and also Stephen Harrowby, in " The Poor Gen- 
tleman." 

Slender, in Shakespeare's comedy of " The Merry Wives of 
Windsor." 

Peter, in " The Stranger." 

Dickory, in " The Spectre Bridegroom." 

Tobias Shortcut, in " The Spitfire." Farce. By J. M. Morton. 
Co vent Garden, 1838. 

Osric, and also the First and the Second Gravedigger, in 
Shakespeare's tragedy of " Hamlet." 

Donaldbain, Malcolm, and the Three Witches, in Shakespeare's 
tragedy of " Macbeth." 

The Lord Mayor, Catesby, Oxford, the Prince of Wales, and 
the Dnke of York, in Cibber's version of Shakespeare's tragedy 
of " Richard the Third." 

Peter, and also Paris, in Shakespeare's tragedy of " Romeo 
and Juliet." 



198 THE JEFFERSONS. 

Oswald, in Shakespeare's tragedy of " King Lear." 

Dr. Pcuigloss, in " The Heir at Law." 

Dati, in " John Bull." Comedy. By George Colman, Jr. 
Covent Garden, 1805. 

Goldfinch, in " The Road to Ruin." Comedy. By Thomas 
Holcroft. Covent Garden, 1792. 

Sampson Rawbold, in " The Iron Chest." Tragedy. By 
George Colman, Jr. Drury Lane, 1796. Music by Storace. 
Kemble was the original Sir Edward Mortimer. This piece 
was based on William Godwin's novel of " Caleb Williams," 
and should be contrasted with that tale, for an apt illustration 
of the difference between narrative and dramatic writing. 

Caleb Qnotem, and also John Lump, in " The Review, or The 
Wags of Windsor." Farce. By George Colman, Jr. Hay- 
market. Authorized edition, 180S. Fawcett was the original 
Caleb Qnotem. Junius Brutus Booth was fond of acting Joint 
Lump, and Jefferson the Fourth has acted Caleb Qnotem to the 
Joint Lump of that tragedian. 

Tony Lumpkin, in " She Stoops To Conquer." Comedy. 
By Oliver Goldsmith. Covent Garden, 1773. 

Francis, in Shakespeare's historical play of " Henry the 
Fourth." 

Whiskerandos, in " The Critic." 

Bob, in " Old Heads and Young Hearts." Comedy. By Dion 
Boucicault. Haymarket. 

Gravity Gag, in " Jenny Lind." 

Sir Brian, in " Ivanhoc." Burlesque. By the Brough 
Brothers. 

Joe A/eggs, in " The Parish Clerk." Drama. By Dion Bou- 
cicault. Contains one beautiful situation. Has never been 
acted in America. 

Bob Briefly, in "The Ticket-of-Leave Man." Drama. By 
Tom Taylor. 1S63. 

Mr. Lullaby, in "A Conjugal Lesson." 

Mr. Golightly, in "Lend Me Five Shillings." 

Jacques Strop, in "Robert Macaire." 

Bob Trickett, in " An Alarming Sacrifice." The first Mrs. 
1 on played Susan Sweetapple. 



JEFFERSON THE FOURTH. 199 

Fainwould, in " Raising the Wind." Farce. By James Ken- 
ney. Covent Garden, 1803. 

' Dr. Smugface, in " A Budget of Blunders." Farce. By 
Prince Hoare. Covent Garden, 1810. 

Simon, in " The Rendezvous." 

Kaserac, in " Aladdin." 

Sheepface, in " The Village Lawyer." Farce. 1795. 

Fixture, in " A Roland For an Oliver." 

Pillicoddy, in "Poor Pillicoddy." Farce. By J. M. Morton. 

Slasher, in " Slasher and Crasher." Farce. By J. M. Mor- 
ton. 

Box, and also Cox, in " Box and Cox." Farce. By J. M. 
Morton. Haymarket, 1847. Jefferson was the original Cox, in 
America, and Burton the original Box — at the Arch Street 
Theatre, Philadelphia, in 1848. 

Mr. Fluffy, in " Mother and Child." 

Mr. Brown, in the farce of " My Neighbor's Wife." 

Oliver Dobbs, in " Agnes de Vere." 

Andrew, the Savoyard, in " Isabel." 

Mr. Gilman, in " The Happiest Day of My Life." 

Mr. Timid, in " The Dead Shot." 

La Fleur, in " Animal Magnetism." Farce. By Elizabeth 
Inchbald. Covent Garden, 1788. 

Isaac, in " Lucille." 

Niken, in " The Carpenter of Rouen." 

Figaro, in " The Barber of Seville." 

Robin, in " The Waterman, or the First of August." Ballad 
opera. By Charles Dibdin. Haymarket, 1774. 

Pan, in " Midas.". Burlesque. By Kane O'Hara. Covent 
Garden, 1764-1771. 

Prop, in " No Song no Supper." 

Salem Scudder, in " The Octoroon." Drama. By Dion Bou- 
cicault. Winter Garden, New York, 1859. 

Joshua Bictterby, in " Victims." Comedy. By Tom Taylor. 

Mazeppa, in the burlesque of that name, by H. J. Byron. 

John Quill, in " Beauty and the Beast." 
The Sentinel, in " Pizarro." 

Crabtree, Moses, and Trip, in " The School for Scandal." 



200 THE JEFFERSONS. 

The Infant Furibond, in "The Invisible Prince." 

Hugh C/ialcote, in " Ours." Comedy. By Tom Robertson. 

Mr. Woodcock, in " Woodcock's Little Game." 

Hans Morritz, in " Somebody Else." 

James, in "Blue Devils." 

Toby Twinkle, in " All that Glitters is Not Gold." 

Caleb Plnmmer, in " Dot, or The Cricket on the Hearth." 
Drama. By Dion Boucicault. Based on the beautiful Christ- 
mas story by Charles Dickens. 

Newman Nbggs t in " Nicholas Nickleby." Drama. By Dion 
Boucicault. Based on the novel by Dickens. 

Asa Trenchard, in " Our American Cousin." Drama. By 
Tom Taylor. Laura Keene's Theatre, New York, 1858. 

Tracy Coach, in " Baby." 

Pierrot, in " Linda, The Pearl of Chamouni." 

Wyndham, in " The Handsome Husband." 

Dick, in " Paddy the Piper.'' Drama. By James Pilgrim. 
New National Theatre, New York, October 6th, 1S50. 

The Steward, in " The Child of the Regiment." 

Pierre Rouge, in " The Husband of an Hour." Drama. By 
Edmund Falconer. 

Septimus, in " My Son Diana." 

Dr. Botherby, in "An Unequal Match." Comedy. By Tom 
Taylor. 

Dard, in " White Lies." Drama. By Cyril Turner. Based 
on the novel, so named, by Charles Reade, and of French 
origin. 

Gloss, in " Doublefaced People." Comedy. By H. Courtney. 

Beppo, in " Fra Diavolo." Burlesque. By H. J. Byron. 

Yonkers, in " Chamooni the Third." Burlesque. By Dion 
Boucicault. Winter Garden, New York, 1859. 

C. '/'■ /ton, and also The Tycoon, in " The Tycoon, or Young 
America in Japan." Burlesque. By William Brough. Adapted 
by Fitz-James O'Brien and Joseph Jefferson. Olympic, New 
York, 1S60. 

Old Phil Siapleton, in "Old Phil's Birthday." 

Joe Wadd, in "The Hope of the Family." 



JEFFERSON THE FOURTH. 201 

JEFFERSON AS RIP VAN WINKLE. 

Every reader of Washington Irving knows the story 
of Rip Van Winkle's adventure on the Kaatskill Moun- 
tains, — that delightful, romantic idyl, in which charac- 
ter, humor, and fancy are so delicately blended. Under 
the spell of Jefferson's acting we are transported into 
the past; and made to see, as with bodily eyes, the old- 
fashioned Dutch civilization as it crept up the borders 
of the Hudson : the . quaint and quiet villages ; the 
stout Hollanders, with their pipes and schnapps ; the 
loves and troubles of an elder generation. It is a 
calmer life than ours ; yet the same elements compose 
it. Here is a mean and cruel schemer making a good- 
hearted man his victim, and thriving on the weakness 
that he so well knows how to betray. Here is parental 
love, tried, as it often is, by sad cares ; and here the 
love of young and hopeful hearts, blooming amid 
flowers, sunshine, music, and happiness. Rip Van 
Winkle never seemed so lovable as he does in the 
form of this great actor, standing thus in poetic relief 
against the background of real life. Jefferson makes 
him our familiar friend. We see that Rip is a weak, 
vacillating fellow, fond of his bottle and his ease, but 
— beneath all his rags and tatters, of character as well 
as raiment — good to the core. We understand why 
the village children love him, why the dogs run after 
him with joy, and why the jolly boys at the tavern wel- 
come his song and story and genial companionship. 
He has wasted his fortune and impoverished his wife 
and child, and we know that he is much to blame. 



202 THE JEFFERSONS. 

He knows it too ; and his talk with the children shows 
how keenly he feels the consequence of a weakness 
which yet he is unable to atone for or subdue. It is 
in these minute touches that Jefferson shows his sym- 
pathetic study of human nature ; his intuitive percep- 
tion, looking quite through the hearts and thoughts 
of men. The observer sees this in the struggle of 
Rip's long-submerged but only dormant spirit of manli- 
ness, when his wife turns him from their home, in night 
and storm and abandoned degradation. Still more 
vividly is it shown in his pathetic bewilderment, — his 
touching embodiment of the anguish of lonely age 
bowed down by sorrow and doubt, — when he comes 
back from his sleep of twenty years. His disclosure of 
himself to his daughter marks the climax of pathos, and 
every heart is melted by those imploring looks of mute 
suspense, those broken accents of love that almost fears 
an utterance. It would be hard to say which portion 
of Jefferson's performance is the more admirable. 
Perhaps the perfection of his acting is seen in the 
weird and beautiful interview with the ghosts. This 
situation, surely, is one of the greatest ever devised for 
the stage ; and the actor himself created it. Midnight, 
on the highest peak of the Kaatskills, dimly lighted by 
the moon. No one speaks but Rip. The ghosts 
cluster around him. The grim but stately shade of 
Henry Hudson proffers a cup of drink to the mortal 
intruder, already dazed by his supernatural surround- 
ings. Poor Rip, almost shuddering in the awful si- 
lence, yet bold, and full of his quaint nature, pledges 
the ghosts, in their own liquor. Then, suddenly the 



JEFFERSON THE FOURTH. 203 

spell is broken ; shouts of goblin laughter resound over 
the echoing mountain ; the moon is lost in struggling 
clouds ; the spectres glide away and slowly vanish ; and 
Rip Van Winkle, with the drowsy, piteous murmur, 
" Don't leave me, boys," falls into his mystic sleep. 

This idle, good-natured, dram-drinking Dutch spend- 
thrift — so perfectly reproduced, yet so exalted and pu- 
rified by ideal treatment — is not certainly an heroic 
figure, and cannot be said to possess an exemplary sig- 
nificance, either in himself or his experience. Yet his 
temperament has that fine fibre which everybody loves, 
and everybody, accordingly, has a good feeling for him, 
although nobody may have a good word for his way of 
life. All observers know this order of man. He is gen- 
erally as poor as a church mouse. He never did a bad 
action in all his life. He is continually cheering the 
weak and lowly. He always wears a smile upon his 
face, — the reflex of his gentle heart. Ambition does 
not trouble him. His wants are few. He has no care, 
except when, now and then, he feels that ' he may have 
wasted time and talents, or when the sorrow of others 
falls darkly on his heart. This, however, is rare ; for at 
most times he is "bright as light and clear as wind." 
Nature has established with him a kind of kindred that 
she allows with only a chosen few. In him Shake- 
speare's rosy ideal is suggested : " The singing birds are 
his musicians, the flowers fair ladies, and his steps no 
more than a delightful measure or a dance." This man- 
ner of man Jefferson's Rip Van Winkle embodies, and 
that is the secret of its charm. Nobody would dream 
of setting him up as a model ; but everybody is glad 



204 THE JEFFERSOXS. 

that he exists. Most persons work so hard, are so full 
of care and trouble, so weighed down with the sense 
of duty, so anxious to regulate the world and put every- 
thing to rights, that contact with a nature which does 
not care for the stress and din of toil, but dwells in an 
atmosphere of sunshiny idleness, and is the embodi- 
ment of goodness, innocence, and careless mirth, 
brings a positive relief. This is the feeling that Jeffer- 
son's acting inspires. The halo of genius is all around 
it. Sincerity, humor, pathos, vivid imagination, and a 
gentleness that is akin with wild flowers and woodland 
brooks, slumberous, slow-drifting summer-clouds, and 
soft music heard upon the waters, in star-lit nights of 
June — these are the springs of the actor's art. There 
are a hundred beauties of method in it which satisfy 
the judgment and fascinate the sense of symmetry ; 
but underlying these beauties there is a magical sweet- 
ness of temperament — a delicate blending of humor, 
pathos, gentleness, quaintness, and dream-like repose — 
which awakens the most affectionate sympathy. This 
subtile spirit is the potent charm of the impersonation. 
All possible labor (and Jefferson sums up in this per- 
formance the culture acquired in many years of pro- 
fessional toil) could not supply that charm. It is a 
celestiaf gift. It is the divine lire. It is what the 
philosophic poet Emerson, with fine and far-reaching 
significance, calls 

" The untaught strain 
That sheds beauty on the rose." 

In depicting Rip Van Winkle Jefferson reaches the 
perfection of the actor's-art; which is to delineate a 



JEFFERSON THE FOURTH. 20$ 

distinctly individual character, through successive stages 
of growth, till the story of a life is completely told. If 
the student of acting would feelingly appreciate the 
fineness and force of the dramatic art that is displayed 
in this work, let him, in either of the pivotal passages, 
consider the complexity and depth of the effect, as 
contrasted with the simplicity of the means that are 
used to produce it. There is no trickery in the charm. 
The sense of beauty is satisfied, because the object that 
it apprehends is beautiful. The heart is deeply and 
surely touched, for the simple and sufficient reason 
that the character and experience revealed to it are 
lovely and pathetic. For Rip Van Winkle's good- 
ness exists as an oak exists, and is not dependent 
on principle, precept, or resolution. Howsoever he 
may drift he cannot drift .away from human affection. 
Weakness was never punished with more sorrowful 
misfortune than his. Dear to us for what he is, he 
becomes dearer still for what he suffers, and (in the 
acting of Jefferson) for the manner in which he suffers 
it. That manner, arising out of complete identification 
with the part, informed by intuitive and liberal knowl- 
edge of human nature, and guided by an unerring in- 
stinct of taste, is the crown of Jefferson's art. It is 
unrestrained ; it is graceful ; it is free from effort ; it is 
equal to every situation ; and it shows, with the pre- 
cision and delicacy of the finest miniature-painting, 
the gradual, natural changes of the character, as wrought 
by the pressure of experience. Its result is the perfect 
embodiment of a rare type of human nature and mysti- 
cal experience, embellished by the appliances of ro- 



206 THE JEFFERSONS. 

mance and exalted by the atmosphere of poetry ; and 
no person of imagination and sensibility can see it 
without being charmed by its humor, thrilled by its 
manifold suggestions of beauty, and made more and 
more sensible that life is utterly worthless, howsoever 
brilliantly its ambitions may happen to be rewarded, 
unless it is hallowed by love and soothed by kindness. 

There will be, as there have been, many Rip Van 
Winkles : there is but one Jefferson. For him it was 
reserved to idealize the entire subject ; to elevate a 
prosaic type of good-natured indolence into an ideal 
emblem of poetical freedom ; to construct and trans- 
late, in the world of fact, the Arcadian vagabond of the 
world of dreams. In the presence of his wonderful 
embodiment of this droll, gentle, drifting human crea- 
ture — to whom trees and brpoks and flowers are famil- 
iar companions, to whom spirits appear, and for whom 
the mysterious voices of the lonely midnight forest 
have a meaning and a charm — the observer feels that 
poetry is no longer restricted to canvas, and marble, 
and rapt reverie over the printed page, but walks forth 
crystallized in a human form, spangled with the fresh- 
ness of the diamond dews of morning, mysterious with 
hints of woodland secrets, lovely with the simplicity 
and joy of rustic freedom, and fragrant with the incense 
of the pines. 

The world does not love Rip Van Winkle because 
he drinks schnapps, nor because he is unthrifty, nor 

because he banters his wife, ' because he neglects 

his duties as a parent. All these are faults, and he is 
loved in spite ofthem. 1 nderneath all his defects the 



JEFFERSON THE FOURTH. 207 

human nature of the man is as sound and bright as 
the finest gold ; and it is out of this interior beauty 
that the charm of Jefferson's personation arises. The 
conduct of Rip Van Winkle is the result of his char- 
acter, and not of his drams. At the sacrifice of some 
slight comicality, here and there, the element of intoxi- 
cation might be left out of his experience altogether, 
and he would still act in the same way, and possess 
the same fascination. Jefferson's Rip, of course, is 
meant, and not Irving's. The latter was " a thirsty 
soul," accustomed to frequent the tavern ; and thirsty 
souls who often seek taverns neither go there to prac- 
tise total abstinence, nor come thence with poetical at- 
tributes of nature. No such idea of Rip Van Winkle 
can be derived from Irving's sketch as is given in Jef- 
ferson's acting. Irving seems to have written the sketch 
for the sake of the ghostly legend it embodies ; but he 
made no attempt to elaborate the character of its hero, 
or to present it as a poetic one. Jefferson has exalted 
the conception. In his embodiment the drink is merely 
an expedient, to plunge the hero into domestic strife and 
open the way for his ghostly adventure and his pathetic 
resuscitation. The machinery may be » clumsy ; but 
that does not invalidate either the beauty of the charac- 
ter or the supernatural thrill and mortal anguish of the 
experience. In these abides the soul -of this great 
work, which, while it captivates the heart, also enthralls 
the imagination, — taking us away from the region of 
the commonplace, away also from the region of the 
passions, lifting us above the storms of life, its sorrows, 
its losses, and its fret, till we rest at last on Nature's 



208 THE JEFFERSOXS. 

bosom, children once more, and once more happy. 
No words can more than hint at this inherent and 
indefinable magic. Its results disclose its presence \ 
for, as long ago was beautifully said by the poet Alex- 
ander Smith : — 

" Love gives itself; and, if not given, 
No genius, beauty, state, or wit, 
No gold of earth, no gem of heaven, 
Is rich enough to purchase it." 

Washington Irving (i 783-1859) did not live to be 
a witness of the great success of Jefferson, in the 
character — suggested and made possible by himself — 
of Rip Van Winkle. But Irving saw Jefferson upon the 
stage, and remembered his grandfather, and appre- 
ciated and admired the acting of both. The following 
mention of the Jeffersons occurs in the Journal of the 
last days of Washington Irving, kept by his nephew, 
Pierre M. Irving, and published in 1862 : — 

"September 301/1, 1858. — Mr. Irving came in town, to remain 
a few days. In the evening went to Laura Kccne's Theatre, to 
see young Jefferson as Goldfinch, in Molcroft's comedy of ' The 
Road to Ruin.' Thought Jefferson, the father, one of the 
best actors he had ever seen ; and the son reminded him, in 
look, gesture, size, and make, of the father. Had never seen 
the father In Goldfinch, but was delighted with the son." — Life 
and Letters of Washington Irving. Vol. IV., p. 253. 

The grandfather, and not the father, evidently, was 
meant, in this reference. Irving had seen Jefferson 
the Second, in the old days of " Salmagundi." It is 
doubtful whether he ever saw Jefferson the Third, the 
father of our comedian. 



JEFFERSON THE FOURTH. 209 

Jefferson's persistent adherence to the character of 
Rip Van Winkle has often, and naturally, been made 
the subject of inquiry and remark. The late Charles 
Mathews once said to him: "Jefferson, I'm glad to 
see you making your fortune, but I hate to see you 
doing it with one part and a carpet-bag." " It is cer- 
tainly better," answered the comedian, " to play one 
part and make it various, than to play a hundred parts 
and make them all alike." 

A singular and comic incident attended one of Jef- 
ferson's performances of Rip Van Winkle, at Charles- 
ton, South Carolina. He had reached the first scene 
of the third act, and the venerable Rip, just awakened 
from his long sleep, was slowly and painfully raising 
himself from the earth. The whole house was hushed, 
in anxious and pitying suspense. At this moment the 
heavy, floundering tread of a drunken man was heard 
in the gallery. He descended in the centre aisle, 
reached the front row, and gazed upon the stage. 
Then, suddenly, was heard his voice, — distinctly audi- 
ble throughout the theatre, — the voice of interested 
curiosity, tipsy gravity, and a good-natured thirst for 
knowledge : " What the h — 's that old idiot tryin' 
to do?" 

JEFFERSON AS BOB ACRES. 

Philadelphia, September 15th, 1880.* 
Jefferson has at last complied with the desire, generally felt 
and frequently expressed within the last two or three years, 

* This letter was written in the " New York Tribune/' by the author 
of this biography, and it is now reprinted, in a condensed form, from 
that journal. — W. W. 



2IO THE JEFFERSONS. 

that he should appear in some other part than Rip Van Winkle. 
He has not tired of his old character, any more than the public 
has tired of it ; but he has felt the mental need of a change, 
and he has recognized the claims of the new generation of 
play-goers upon that versatility of art and those resources of 
faculty and humor which gave enjoyment to theatrical audi- 
ences of an earlier time, and which laid the basis of his pro- 
fessional renown. He has not been unwilling, neither, — it is 
probable, — to correct a mistaken contemporary impression, 
current to some extent, that he is only a one-part actor. In 
former days, and long before he took up Rip Van Winkle, 
Jefferson acted many parts ; and very early in his career he 
was recognized, by the dramatic profession and by the more 
discerning part of the public, as an actor of great versatility. 
His personations of Asa Trenchard, Caleb Plummcr, Dr. Pan- 
gloss, Dr. Oil apod, Diggo^y, Salem Seudder, Mr. Golightly, Mr. 
Lullaby, Newman Noggs, Goldfinch, Bob Brierly, the burlesque 
Alazeppa, and Tobias Shortcut (and these are but a few of the 
many in which he was excellent and distinguished; long 
still linger in the memory of old playgoers, and are remembered 
only to be admired and extolled. But since, for the last four- 
teen years — the period succeeding his return from England, in 
1866 — he has seldom acted any thing but Rip Van Winkle, the 
public conception of him as a general actor has grown dim, or 
has altogether faded away. In taking the step which he has 
now taken, by reviving, as a specialty, the comedy of "The 
Rivals," and appearing as Bob Acres (in which part, many 
years ago, he made one of his earliest and best successes), 
he affords refreshment to his own mind; he decreases the 
ibility of his making Rip Van Winkle hackneyed and te- 
dious; he satisfies a natural craving for novelty on the pari 
of his admirers; he revives, or awakens, a just sense of the 
breadth of his scope as a comedian ; and, keeping abreasl "( 
the progress of modern taste, he gives his public a new pl< asure, 

a new lesson in dramatic art, and a new subjeel for study and 

thought. It was a wise deed to do ; and it will be productive 
oi wholesome results, in its influence upon theatrical interests 
throughout tin- ( ountry. 



JEFFERSON THE FOURTH. 211 

'• Those persons who are acquainted with the professional 
career of Jefferson are aware that it has been marked, all 
along its course, by extraordinary wisdom. He has made few 
mistakes, — never one in an important juncture of affairs. He 
came to the capital at the right time, and in the right way. 
He very early applied to the old comedies the right, because 
the pure and poetic, method of treatment. He could look far 
ahead for the results of his labor and devotion, and he made 
fidelity to the highest ideal of art the first object of his life. 
He understood perfectly well the nature of the structure that 
he was rearing, and he never trusted anything to chance. It 
was he who caused the production of " Our American Cousin," 
at Laura Keene's Theatre (in New York, October 18th, 1858), 
and so made one of the greatest dramatic successes of which 
there is any record. He had the foresight to select, while yet 
a young man, the character through which his powers were 
destined to find their amplest expression, — the character of 
Rip Van Winkle ; and for that he shaped out an ideal and a 
treatment so original, high, poetic, fresh, and lovely, so utterly 
unlike and so far above the conception of Washington Irving's 
sketch and the embodiment of previous actors — whether Hack- 
ett or Yates or Burke or anybody else — that he may be said to 
have created the part. He left America, and visited Australia, 
at a favorable period for such an expedition, and with a practical 
view to subsequent success upon the London stage. He saga- 
ciously resorted to Mr. Dion Boucicault, in London, when he 
deemed it essential that a new play should be built upon the 
basis of the old one, and he furnished to that practical drama- 
tist a general outline of the piece, the drift of the central charac- 
ter, and the great situation in the secoVid act of " Rip Van 
Winkle" as it now stands, — a dramatic idea which of itself 
would suffice to prove him a man of genius. He returned 
home opportunely, after his extraordinary triumphs in Great 
Britain ; and the fame and fortune he has since acquired, the 
affection, with which his memory is cherished, and the joyous 
admiration with which his name is spoken throughout this 
country are abundant and sufficient evidence that his conduct 



212 THE JEFFERSONS. 

of the artist-life, since then, has been no less prudent and right 
than kindly, modest, gentle, and sincere. It is not caprice which 
shapes such a career as that of Jefferson, nor is it accident that 
has crowned it with the laurels of honor. 

The same sagacity that has guided the comedian hitherto is 
shown in the choice he has now made of a piece and a charac- 
ter to contrast with Rip Van Winkle. Of all the old comedies, 
" The Rivals " is obviously the best that this actor could have 
selected, with a view — most essential to be taken ! — of mak- 
ing his particular part in the performance the apex of the en- 
tertainment. The piece is one that has not become antiquated 
in time. Its picture of life and manners is as modern and as 
vital as it is clear, richly-colored, humorous, and brilliant. 
The spirit of it, moreover, is human, kindly, and pure. There 
is no taint of indelicacy in the plot, — no streak of serious and 
painful licentiousness, such as smirches the mirror of its great 
companion piece, "The School for Scandal," — and in the style 
there is nothing of the superabundance of brittle wit which 
imparts to the most of Sheridan's writings such a tiresome 
glitter of artifice. The play is fresh, genial, human, .simple 
and droll ; it has interest of story, a breezy movement, and 
substantial, well-contrasted characters ; and its theme, inci- 
dents, and atmosphere are precisely suited to Jefferson's qual- 
ity of humor and to his nimble and subtile artistic method. 
He thus obtains a means of expression by which he can seize 
and hold the kindly sympathy of the spectator — unconsciously, 
and therefore the more sweetly given — all the while that he 
is scattering over him the flowers of mirth, and waking in his 
heart the echoes of happy laughter. It would be hard to find 
in English literature •another comedy, equally sparkling with 
life, wholesome in spirit, delightful in color, and merry and 
le in influence, in which a single, and that a comic, char- 
acter — one of a group, vet drawn and kept in harmony 
with its surroundings — could thus be made tributary to the 
idiosyncrasies of an actor, and thus elevated into shining 
prominence, without injury to its own integrity, and without 
violence to the symmetry of the play. After seeing "The 






JEFFERSON THE FOURTH. 213 

Rivals/' as Jefferson and his company present it, the spec- 
tator retires with a great kindness for the old piece, and with 
the conviction that, in Jefferson's performance of Bob Acres, 
he has seen a slight character made fascinating by drollery of 
spirit, sincerity of feeling, amplitude of treatment, and grace of 
expression. 

When "The Rivals" was first produced [1775], ^ had to be 
cut, in a ruthless manner, before it could be made to succeed. 
The author, then but twenty-three years old, had written it with 
exuberant spirits, and it contained substance enough for two 
plays rather than one. Jefferson has not hesitated to cut it 
still further, and slightly to change its sequence of action, and 
here and there, in the character of Bob Acres, to fill in traits 
that the author has only outlined, to add new business, — al- 
wavs, however, in harmony with the original conception, — and 
to give, by occasional new lines, -an added emphasis and pro- 
longation to the humorous strokes of Sheridan. The bright- 
ness of the effect denotes a decided improvement. The comedy 
is given in three acts. The first curtain falls upon the exit of 
Sir Anthony Absolute, after his choleric scene with his son. 
The second falls upon the exit of Acres, at the words, " Tell 
him I kill a man a week." And the third falls upon the close 
of the piece, with a tag that Jefferson has added. The char- 
acter of Julia is cut out, and that of Falkland is considera- 
bly reduced. This is a relief, since these parts are only pleasant 
when acted by players of the first class, such as can no longer 
now be got to undertake them. The loose lines, as well as 
what Moore called the "false finery and second-rate orna- 
ment," have been scored away. Two of the scenes of Acres 
have been blended into one, so that the vain and timorous 
squire's truculence, when writing the challenge, may be made 
the more comical by immediate contrast with his dismay and 
gradually growing cowardice, as he begins to realize its possible 
consequences. In other respects there is no change. Ten 
actors carry the piece, and it moves with smooth celerity. The 
cast comprises Jefferson as Bob Acres, Frederick Robinson as 
Sir Anthony Absolute, Mrs. John Drew as Mrs. Malaprop, Mr. 



214 THE JEFFERSONS. 

Maurice Earrymore as Captain Absolute, Mr. Charles YVaverley 
as Sir Lucius O' Trigger, Miss Rosa Rand as Lydia Languish, 
Miss Adine Stephens as Lucy, Mr. H. F. Taylor as Falkland, 
Mr. Thomas Jefferson (second son of the comedian) as Fag, 
and Mr. J. Galloway as David. The parts are beautifully 
dressed, although with some intentional inaccuracy as to pow- 
dered hair ; and, as the rehearsals have been thorough, the 
representation is marked by clearness of outline, boldness of 
color, and harmony of effect. 

To the present public Jefferson as Bob Acres is an abso- 
lute novelty. He was, however, as has been said, long ago 
distinguished in it; and he has played this part, and also 
Pangloss, and Ollapod, season after season — a few times each — 
at Ford's Theatre, in Baltimore. In 187 1, on the occasion of 
the Holland Benefit, in New York, he charmed an immense 
audience with his representation of Mr: Golightly ; and this 
exquisite work he gave, a few years later (1S77), in London, 
on the occasion of a benefit to the impoverished and dying 
veteran, Henry Compton, when his success was so great that 
John S. Clarke immediately proposed to him a season of farce 
at the Haymarket, — a season devoted to Mr. Golightly and 
Hugh De Brass, — in which, while the treasury neither largely 
gained nor lost at all, the connoisseurs of the British capital 
enjoyed a kind of acting which they conceded to be equal with 
the best upon the Parisian comedy stage. To those, accord- 
ingly, who keep the track of such affairs it is not unknown that 
Jefferson's extraordinary felicity in light parts, whether of com- 
edy, burlesque, or farce, resides in his application to them of 
an intense earnestness of spirit and a poetic treatment, — by 
which is meant a treatment that interprets, illustrates, and ele- 
vates the character. In this way he has now embodied Bob 
Acres ; and as the most scrupulous attention has been given to 
every detail — even the slightest — in the revival of the co"hv 
edy, his impersonation <>f that amusing character can now he 
seen in greater fulness and freedom, and with the advantage of 
better surroundings, than ever before. 

Jefferson appears in three scenes : the first, that of the 



JEFFERSON THE FOURTH. 21$ 

call which is made by Acres at the lodging of Captain Absolute, 
where he meets Falkland ; the second, that of his reception of 
Sir Lucius 0? Trigger, at his own chambers, when he writes the 
challenge to the mythical Beverley, is frightened by the terrors 
of his bumpkin servant, David, and, at last, with rueful reluc- 
tance, entrusts the warlike missive to Captain Absolute ; and 
the third, that of the frustrated meeting in King's Mead Mead- 
ows, when, in the extremity of fear, his " valor oozes out at 
the tips of his fingers," and the snarl that young Absolute has 
woven is finally and happily disentangled. The variety that 
he evokes from these scenes is little less than wonderful. At 
first it seems as if he had overladen the character with mean- 
ing, and lifted it too far. But, when this creation is studied, it 
is immediately seen that the actor has only taken the justifiable 
and admirable license of deepening the lines and tints of the 
author, and of endearing the character by infusing into it an 
amiable and lovable personality. That this was not clearly in- 
tended by Sheridan would not invalidate its propriety. The 
part admits of it, and is better for it ; and this certainly would 
have been intended had it been thought of, — for it makes the 
play doubly interesting and potential. That Acres becomes a 
striking figure in the group, and a vigorous motive in the ac- 
tion, is only because he is thus splendidly vitalized. Were the 
other parts electrified by an equal genius in the performance 
of them it would instantly be seen that he has no undue prom- 
inence. 

Jefferson has considered that a country squire need not nec- 
essarily reek of the ale-house and the stables ; that Acres is 
neither the noisy and vulgar Tony Lumpkin, nor the " horsey " 
Goldfinch ; that there is, in a certain way, a little touch of the 
Wildrake in his composition ; that he is not less kindly because 
vain and empty-headed ; that he has tender ties of home, and 
a background of innocent, domestic life ; that his head is com- 
pletely turned by contact with town fashions ; that there may 
be a kind of artlessness in his ridiculous assumption of rakish 
airs ; that there is something a little pitiable in his braggado- 
cio ; that he is a good fellow, at heart; and that his sufferings 



2l6 THE JEFFERSONS. 

in the predicament of the duel are genuine, intense, and quite 
as doleful as they are comic. All this appears in the persona- 
tion. You are struck at once by the elegance of the figure, the 
grace of movement, the winning appearance and temperament ; 
and Bob Acres gets your friendship, and is a welcome pres- 
ence, laugh at him as you may. Jefferson has introduced 
a comic blunder wyth which to take him out of the first scene 
with Absolute, and also some characteristic comic business for 
him, before a mirror, when Sir Lucius, coming upon him una- 
wares, finds him practising bows and studying deportment. 
He does not seem contemptible in these situations ; he only 
seems, as he ought to seem, absurdly comical. He communi- 
cates to every spectator his joy in the success of his curl-papers ; 
and no one, even amidst uncontrollable laughter, thinks of his 
penning of his challenge as otherwise than a proceeding of 
the most serious importance. He is made a lovable human 
being, with an experience of action and suffering, and our sym- 
pathies with him, on his battle-field, would be really painful 
but that we are in the secret, and know it will turn out well. 
The interior spirit of Jefferson's impersonation, then, is soft 
humanity and sweet good nature; and the traits that he has 
especially emphasized are ludicrous vanity and comic trepi- 
dation. He never leaves a moment unfilled with action, when 
he is on the scene, and all his by-play is made tributary to the 
expression of these traits. One of his fresh and deft touches 
is the trifling with Captain Absolute's gold-laced hat, and — obvi- 
ously to the eye — considering whether it would be becoming 
to himself. The acting is full of these bits of felicitous em- 
broidery. Nothing could possibly be more humorous or more 
full of nature than the mixture of assurance, uneasy levity, and 
dubious apprehension, at the moment when the challenge lias 
at last and irrevocably found its way into Captain Absolute's 
pocket. The rueful face, then, is a study lor a painter, and 

only a portrait could doit justice. The mirth of the duel scene 

it is impossible to convey. Ii musl he supreme art indeed 
which can arouse, at tin- same instant, as this does, an almost 

tender solicitude and an inextinguishable laughter. The little 



JEFFERSON THE FOURTH. 21 J 

introductions of a word or two here and there in the text, made 
at this point by the comedian, are delightfully happy. To make 
Acres say that he doesn't care " how little the risk is " was an 
inspiration ; and his sudden and joyous greeting, " How are 
you, Falkland?" — with the relief that it implies, and the mo- 
mentary return of the airy swagger, — is a stroke of genius. 
The performance, altogether, is as exquisite a piece of comedy 
as ever has been seen, in our time. You do not think, till you 
look back upon it, how fine it is, — so easy is its manner, and 
so perfectly does it sustain the illusion of real life. 

Mrs. Drew has treated in the same earnest spirit the charac- 
ter of Mrs. Malaprop, and it would be difficult to overstate the 
merit of her performance. It is as fine as anything of the kind 
can possibly be. The dressing is appropriately rich, and in 
suitable taste. The manner is decorous and stately. The per- 
sonality is decidedly formidable. The deportment is elaborate 
and overwhelming, as it should be. The delivery of the text 
is beautiful in its accuracy and finish, and in its unconscious 
grace. The word is always matched by the right mood, and 
not a single blunder, in what this eccentric character calls her 
" orthodoxy," is made in any spirit but that of fervent con- 
viction. It is worth the journey to this place merely to hear 
her say " He has enveloped the plot to me, and he will give 
you the perpendiculars." The bit of illustrative stage business 
with the letter — giving to Absohcte, by mistake, one of the love- 
letters of O" 1 Trigger, instead of the intercepted epistle of Bever- 
ley — was done with a bridling simper and an antique blush 
that were irresistible. The pervasive excellence of the work 
is its intense reality, and this redeems the extravagance of the 
character and the farcical quality of its text. For the first time 
it seemed as if Mrs. Malaprop might truly exist. The part has 
before now been gr^itly acted; but never till now, in our time, 
has it seemed to be actually lived. 

The other impersonations are not level with those of Mr. 
Jefferson and Mrs. Drew ; but Mr. Frederick Robinson will be 
remarkably fine in Sir Anthony Absolute, when he has gained 
in it somewhat more of the mellowness of age. His choler and 



2l8 THE JEFFERSONS. 

his humor are capital, and his charming management of the 
dubious, pausing moments of suspicion, in Captain AbsolittSs 
hoodwinking scene with Sir Anthony, gave it glowing color and 
captivating warmth of humor. Mr. Tom Jefferson was a gay 
and effective figure, as Fag, and he made his satirical exit with 
such skill and effect as promise a good comedian. The actors 
work together with fine zeal and in harmony with a clear, dom- 
inant purpose ; and this presentment of " The Rivals " cannot 
fail, while imparting pleasure as it passes, to teach the salutary 
lesson of what thoroughness and sincerity can accomplish in 
the ministry of art. Never to slight anything we do, but to go 
to the depth and height of the subject, and bring out all its 
meaning and all its beauty, — that is the lesson of this splendid 
success with one of the everyday plays of our theatre. The 
wild flower that grows by the wayside, if you but nurture it 
aright, will reward your care, a hundred fold, in loveliness and 
bloom. 

Note. — Jefferson produced "The Rivals" and personated Acres, 
at the Union Square Theatre, New York, on September 12th, 1S81. 
This was his first presentation of the subject, in that capital, since the 
Philadelphia revival. The cast of characters was the following : — 

Acres Mr. Jefferson. 

Sir Anthony Absolute Frederick Robinson. 

Captain Absolute Mark Pendleton. 

Sir Lucius O'Trigger Charles Waverley. 

Falkland Henry F. Taylor. 

Fag Thomas Jefferson. 

David James Galloway. 

Mrs. Malaprop Mrs. John Drew. 

Lydia Languish Miss Rose Wood 

Lucy Miss Eugenia Paul. 



CONCLUSION. 



The development of the character of Jefferson the 
First seems to have proceeded along a conventional 
line. He had, indeed, the boldness to adopt the stage, 
against which in that period, and for many years after- 
wards, the respectable British parent is found protest- 
ing with severity and contempt. But when he did this 
he was an adventurous lad, with no position to lose, 
and the avocation of the actor no doubt consorted as 
well with his necessities as with his humor and talents. 
It does not appear that there was either moral courage 
or mental prescience in the choice. He was a bold, 
high-spirited youth. He was fascinated by the play- 
house, and he drifted into acting as a source of pleasure 
and a means of advancement. When thus embarked 
he soon sobered into the practical English view of 
duty, and thereafter ambled calmly on in the beaten 
track. Through what is known of his intellectual life 
the inquirer discerns no impulse of positive originality, 
no exercise of creative power. His style as an actor 
was based on that of Garrick, and probably he could 
not have had a better model; but he himself was less 
a model than a shadow. He took the parts as they 
came, and he applied to their illustration dramatic 
instincts of a fine quality and dramatic faculties of a 



220 THE JEFFERSONS. 

high character. But he struck out no individual path. 
He resembled Garrick as Davenport resembled Mac- 
ready, or as Setchell resembled Burton : he was of the 
Garrick school, and almost as good as its founder. 
His influence on the stage was not the influence of an 
electrical genius ; he did not come to destroy, but to 
fulfil, the traditions which he found. That he followed 
the lead of Garrick, and not of Quin, was significant 
rather of temperament than of deliberate choice : bril- 
liancy allured him more than scholarship ; but, though 
he had been attracted to the school of Quin rather 
than to that of Garrick, he still would have remained a 
disciple. His services to the stage, accordingly, were 
those of an able and generous man, working by con- 
ventional methods in a traditional groove. He sus- 
tained at a high level the dignity of his profession, and 
was the more scrupulously careful of the integrity of 
the theatre because sensitive to the reproach under 
which it labored. While lie did not presume to re- 
ject Archer, Careless, IVoodall, Belmour, Scandal, and 
kindred shining scamps of the old English comedy, 
he evidently was the kind of man who must have 
acted them, not out of sympathy with vice, not with 
even the faintest notion of immoral intent, but be- 
cause experience had shown them to be useful, and 
because they were in possession of the stage. lie 
played them as he played everything else, — as he 
played Jacques and Horatio and Orsmo, ;md as, had 
he lived in our day, he would have played with 
equal impartiality Master Walter and Joseph Surface^ 
Ludovico and Adrastus, Alfred Evelyn and Captain 



CONCLUSION. 221 

Bland. He was a thorough actor ; he helped to build 
up the British stage : he held, to the end of a long life, 
the sincere esteem of the public ; and he left to history 
and his descendants an interesting and honorable 
name. 

Jefferson the Second materially differed from his 
father, not in worth or honor, but in important per- 
sonal attributes and in the general character of his life. 
He was less sturdy, less bluff, less genial and compan- 
ionable, less a man of the world, and more a studious 
artist. His temperament was more delicate, his nature 
more reticent, his mind more ambitious, his faculties 
more nimble and more brilliant ; and the whole tenor 
of his life seems to have been carefully planned and 
rigidly governed. He saw at an early age both the 
direction of his capacities and the goal of his desires ; 
and thereafter, in a spirit of simple, profound, and pure 
self-devotion, he moved forward to the attainment of 
his high and honorable ends. He was essentially a 
virtuous person, and acted always from the monitions 
of principle, never from the promptings of expediency 
or the fickle whims of social custom. His considera- 
tion for others was an exact regard for their rights and 
a tender sympathy with their sufferings. He was 
utterly unselfish, devoid of conceit and affectation, and 
he loved the dramatic art far more than he loved him- 
self. His wish was to live the life of a good man and 
to win the success of a great comedian, and this wish 
was nobly accomplished. For business enterprise he 
had neither taste nor talent, and his mental constitution 
was such as required that personal aggrandizement 



222 THE JEFFERSONS. 

should be the consequence of personal desert and 
worthy achievement. His ambition was to grasp suc- 
cess itself, and not to grasp merely its results, and he 
would have been made thoroughly miserable by honors 
and wealth that he had not merited. This fine nature, 
flowing into all his works and ways, inspired his acting 

with all manner of lovely and winning attributes, 

those impalpable and nameless qualities which so far 
transcend both words and actions, in the expression of 
the human soul. His deficiency, if such it may be 
called, was — as is natural and usual in a comedian 
— a deficiency in the passions. No deadly conflict 
could ever have raged upon the theatre of that se- 
rene spirit ; no pall of tempest could ever have low- 
ered over its pure and pellucid depths. He felt no 
wounds but those that strike the heart. His private 
life was lived in the affections ; his public life, in that 
realm of dramatic art which requires, exclusively, ob- 
servation mingled with invention, eccentricity tempered 
by fancy, and humor touched with tenderness. As an 
actor his originality appears to have consisted in his 
extraordinary thoroughness and felicity of treatment. 
His genius did not dazzle ; but it always delighted and 
satisfied. His contemporaries universally commended 
him as a natural actor. His artifice, accordingly, must 
have been perfect, and must have been employed with 
consummate skill ; for no actor ever yet produced the 
effect of nature by being perfectly natural. While not 
the founder of a new school, he yet made and left upon 
his age the impression of being a unique actor; be- 
cause he possessed, in unprecedented variety and ful- 



CONCLUSION. 223 

ness, the finest faculties and . attributes of the best 
school of the past. His intellectual ancestors — if the 
present writer is not mistaken — were Robert Wilks 
and Thomas Dogget.* He possessed all the delicacy, 
versatility, and deep feeling of the one, and more than 
the glowing humor and consistent and polished art of 
the other. " I can only copy nature from the originals 
before me," said Sir Godfrey Kneller to Dogget; "but 
you can vary them at pleasure, and yet preserve the 
likeness." This, undoubtedly, was likewise true of 
Jefferson ; and there can be no testimonial more ex- 
planatory of his charm, or more significant of his 
exalted powers and achievements, alike in the conser- 
vation, the improvement, and the transmission of the 
best traditions of comedy-acting on the English stage, 
than the eloquent fact that, to the end of his long 
career, the actors best qualified to judge of such a 
matter — the actors like Hodgkinson, Cooper, Kean, 
and Forrest — heartily and with one accord pronounced 
him trie finest comedian of the age in which he lived. 

Upon the intellectual career of Jefferson the 
Third it is not needful here to pause. His character 
and his life had the calm beauty of an autumn land- 
scape, of wooded hills and browning meadows, when 
the sun is going down. But his achievement as an 
actor was nerveless and colorless, and he exerted no 
appreciable influence upon the advancement of the 
stage. 

In Jefferson the Fourth there is an obvious union 
of the salient qualities of his ancestors. The rustic 

* Wilks, 1670-1732. — Dogget. Obiit ,1721. 



224 • ™ E JEFFERSOXS. 

luxuriance, manly vigor, and careless and adventurous 
disposition of the first Jefferson, the refined intellect, 
delicate sensibility, dry -humor, and gentle tenderness 
of the second, and the amiable, philosophic, and drift- 
ing temperament of the third, all reappear in this de- 
scendant. But more than either of his ancestors, and 
more than most of his contemporaries, the present 
Jefferson is an originator in the art of acting. With 
him begins a new school of comedy, higher, though 
not finer, than any that was ever before known on the 
English-speaking stage. The comedians of the Bur- 
badge and Betterton periods undoubtedly were rich in 
humor, and a few of them seem to have possessed 
superb artistic faculty in its display ; but the inquirer 
will read many volumes of theatrical history, and trav- 
erse a wide field of time, before he will come upon a 
great representative of human nature in the realm that 
is signified by Touchstone, or Jacques, or the Fool in 
''King Lear." Wilks, certainly, must have been a 
great comedian. He had tragic powers, too, and he 
was capable of tenderness, and his artistic method was 
studiously thorough ; but it was in gay parts that he 
was best, — in Sir Harry Wildair and Henry the 
Fifth. The comedians of the Garrick period, aside 
from its illustrious chieftain, made but little advance 
upon those of the Restoration. The parts that were 
simply humorous continued to be the parts that were 
acted best. Even Garrick most!)' kept his pathos for 
his tragedy: it was the glittering splendor of vitality 
that dazzled, in his Don Felix, and it was the various 
and wonderful comic eccentricity that delighted, in his 



CONCL USION. 225 

Abel Drugger. The growth of comedy- acting, never- 
theless, took the direction of the heart. King, the first 
Sir Peter Teazle, had at least a ray of pathetic warmth. 
Holcroft and the younger Colman, breaking away from 
the influence of Congreve and Wycherley, set the 
example of writing in a vein that called out the human- 
ity no less than the humor of the comedians. The 
influence of thrilling tragic genius, like that of Barry, 
John Henderson, and Mrs. Siddons, lent its aid to 
foster the development of its sister art. Munden, 
Dowton, and kindred spirits came upon the scene ; and 
it was soon proved and felt and recognized that humor 
is all the more humor when it makes the tear of pity 
glisten through the smile of pleasure. From that day 
to this the stage in England and America has presented 
one unbroken line of comedians, who — possessed of 
diversified humor, ranging from that of Rabelais to 
that of Sterne — have also possessed the generous 
warmth of Steele, the quaint kindliness of Lamb, the 
pitying gentleness of Hood, or the sad-eyed charity of 
Thackeray. From that day to this the art of comedy- 
acting has been allied to a purpose that aimed far 
higher than to make the world laugh. In Jefferson the 
Second this wholesome growth attained to its splendid 
maturity, and pathos and humor were perfectly blended. 
It remained that a rare and exquisite form of genius 
should irradiate mirth and tenderness with the glorious 
light of poetic imagination. The fulfilment came with 
Jefferson the Fourth. Most other comedians of this 
century suggest their prototypes in the past. Owens, 
Florence, Bass, Setchell, and Burton are names that 



226 THE JEFFERSONS. 

instantly point to a glorious lineage ; calling up the 
shades of Wright, Reeves, Suett, Liston, Nokes, Kempe, 
and Lowin. Hackett, the only great Falstaff 'of the 
nineteenth century, — unless Warren equalled or ex- 
celled him, — always to be remembered as a represen- 
tative actor, was obviously the descendant of Cibber 
and Quin. The honored name of John Gilbert was 
long since written with those of Webster, Farren, and 
Munden ; and to that family belonged the courtly 
Placide, the polished and commanding Sedley, and the 
hearty, robust, and gentle Mark Smith. Sothern, that 
prince of elegant caricature and soul of waggery, was 
plainly of the school of Foote, Finn, and Mathews ; 
while in many attributes John T. Raymond is of the 
same lineage, with an infusion of Tate Wilkinson. Les- 
ter Wallack, the most picturesque figure of a famous 
race, comes down to us in the brilliant comedy-line of 
Mountfort, Elliston, and Charles Kemble ; while John 
S. Clarke is the heir in genius of Harry Woodward and 
John Emery, and more versatile and brilliant than 
either. But Joseph Jefferson is unlike them all, — as 
distinct, as unique, and also as exquisite, as Charles 
Lamb among essayists, or George Darley among lyri- 
cal poets. No actor of the past prefigured him, — 
unless, perhaps, it was John Bannister, — and no name, 
throughout the teeming annals of art in the nineteenth 
century, has shone with a more genuine lustre, or can 
be more proudly and confidently committed to the re- 
membrance and esteem of posterity. 



INDEX. 



" Ab^ellino," 84, 145, 146. 
"Abbe de L'Epee," 87. 
Abercrombie, Rev. Dr., 117 

note. 
Abington, Mrs., 16 ; sketch of, 

17 ; mention, 23, 28, 46, 47, 

48 note, 86. 
"Across the Atlantic," 191. 
Adams, President yohn, 113. 
Adams, President John Q., 1 13. 
Addison, Joseph, 149 note. 
" Adelmorn," 87. 
Adelphi Theatre, London, 188, 

189, 197. 
" Adopted Child," 82. 
"^Esop in the Shades," 48 

note. 
"Agnes de Vere," 199. 
" Agreeable Surprise," 37. 
"Aladdin," 199. 
"Alarming Sacrifice," 198. 
Albany, N. Y., 64, 169. 
" Alchemist," 8, 20. 
" Alexander the Great," 20. 
Alexandria, Va., 65, 126. 
"Alfred," 19. 
Allen, Andrew Jackson, 140, 

146. 
Allen, Mrs., 140. 
Allen, Mrs. J. H., 183. 
" All for Love," 21. 
Allingham, J. T., 90. 
" Alf that Glitters is not Gold," 

200. 



" Alonzo," 19. 

Alsop, Mrs. (daughter of Dora 
Jordan), 75. 

" Ambrose Gwynette," 145. 

Ambrose, Mrs., 23. 

" Amphytrion," 18. 

Anderson, David C, 155. 

Anderson, Elizabeth (Mrs. Ja- 
cob Thoman, Mrs. Saun- 
ders), 95, 187 note. 

Anderson, Mrs. See Euphemia 
Jefferson. 

Anderson, Jane (Mrs. G. C. 
Germon), "jy, 95, 122, 142, 
147, 187 note. 

Anderson, Wm., 95, 140. 

Andrews, Miles Peter, 85. 

" Animal Magnetism," 92, 199. 

Annapolis, Md., 132. 

Anne, Queen, 39. 

" Antony and Cleopatra," 21. 

A price, Mr., 47. 

Archer, Mrs. Thomas, 132. 

" Archers, The," 80. 

Arch Street Theatre, Philadel- 
phia, 125, t88, 194, 196, 199. 

Arne, Dr. Thomas Augustine, 
28. 

Arnold, Dr. Samuel (Music), 
81, 96, 124 note. 

Arnold, Matthew, 151. 

Arnold, Samuel James, 90, 124 
note. 

Arthur, Mr., 44. 



228 



INDEX. 



Astor Place, Opera House, 

N. Y., 8 note. 
"As You Like it," 20, 81, 92, 

197. 
"Athelstan," 14. 
Atlanta, Ga., 179. 
Augusta, Ga., 95, 179. 



"Baby," 200. 

Bailey, Mrs., 141. 

Baker, David Erskine, 44 note. 

Baker, H. B., preface. 

Baker, Mrs. Lewis. See Clara 

Fisher. 
Balmerino, Lord, 10. 
Baltimore, Md., 56 note, 68, 

69,72,95,99, 118 note, 122, 

132, 140, 143, 168, 169, 179, 

187 note, 192, 195. 
Baltimore Museum, 179. 
Bank of England, 76. 
Bannister, Chas., 1 1 note. 
Bannister, John, 47, 226. 
Bannister, N. H., 1 58. 
Barber, Miss, 199. 
" Barber of Seville," 199. 
Barnes, Eng., 3 note. 
Barnes, John, 155. 
Barrett, Geo. H., 72, 140. 
Barrett, Mrs. Geo. H. (Miss 

Henry, Mrs. W. C. Drum- 

mond), 140. 
Barrett, Giles L., 57. 
Barrett, Mrs. Giles L., 57, 72. 
Barriere, Henry, 140. 
Barry, Mrs. Elizabeth (Mrs. 

Dancer, Mrs. Crawford), 12, 

2 3- 
Barry, Spranger, 12, 13, 14, 18, 

23, 26, 39, 47, 48 note, 225. 
Barry, T. (of England), 23. 
Barrymore, Maurice, 214. 
Bass, Charles, 225. 
Batemait, Ellen, 101. 
Bateman, Kate, 8 note, 101, 

183. 



Bateman, H. L., 161, 183. 

Bateman, Mrs. H. L., 101, 183. 

Bateman, Virginia, 101. 

Bates, Win., 57. 

Bath Abbey, 40 note. 

Bath, Eng., 91. 

Bath Theatre, 59. 

" Battle of Hexham," 81. 

Beaitmarchais, P. N. C. de, 129 

note. 
Beaumotit and Fletcher, 19. 
" Beauty and the Beast," 199. 
" Beaux' Stratagem," 3 note, 6. 
"Beggar of Bethnal Green," 

J-35- 

" Begone, Dull Care," 100. 

Bellamy, George Anne, preface, 
39 note. 

"Belle Helene," 161. 

Bennet, Mrs. Thomas, 24. 

Bennett, W., 188. 

Beiiton, Mr., 98. 

Bernard, John, preface, 10 note, 
13 note, 19, sketch 32, men- 
tion 33, 34, 38, 39, 51, 60, 63. 

Bernard, Mrs. John, 34. 

Bernard, Mrs. Chas. See Miss 
Tilden. 

Bernard, Wm. Bayle, 33 note, 
187 note. 

Berry, Mr., 24. 

Betterton, Thomas, 224. 

Beverley Theatre, 30. 

Bickerstaff, Isaac, 15, 22, 79, 
88. 

Bignall, Mr., 77. 

Birch, Samuel, 82. 

Birmingham, Eng., 67. 

Bishop, T. H., 142. 

Black, Jeremiah, Chief Justice, 
107 note. 

Blake, Wm. R., 155, 178, 179, 
180. 

Blake, Mrs. Wm. R., 180, 183. 

Blakes, Mr., 24. 

Blanchard, Tom, 37, 38. 

Bland, " Jemmy," 95. 



INDEX. 



229 



" Blind Boy," 88, 145. 

Bliss ett, Francis, preface, 65, 
66; sketch of, 91 ; mention, 
97, 105 note, 155. 

Bloxton, Mrs. See Mrs. Sey- 
mour. 

"Blue Beard," 87. 

" Blue Devils," 200. 

Boaden, James, 86. 

Boieldieu, Adrian Francis, 88. 

" Bold Stroke for a Husband," 

79- 
" Bombastes Furioso," 79. 
" Bondocani," 88. 
" Bon Ton," 88. 
" Book of the Pilot," 74. 
Booth, Edwi7i, preface, 155, 178, 

192. 
Booth, Junius Bruhis, 72, 76, 

I3 2 > J 54> 178, 198. 
Booth, Mrs. J. B., Jr., Miss 

De Bar, 142. 
Booth's Theatre, N. Y., 192, 

193- 
Boston. 33 note, 51, 56, 56 

note, 59, 63, 90, 95, 125, 

192. 
Boston Museum, 125. 
Boston Theatre (Federal St.), 

53 note - 
Boswell, James, 23, 93, 94. 
Boucicait.lt, Dion, 159, 182, 183, 

186, 189, 197, 198, 199, 200, 

211. 
Boucicaiclt, Mrs. Dion, 183. 
" Bourville Castle," 82. 
Bowers, Mrs. D. P., 178. 
Bowery Theatre, New York, 

31,52,96, 125, 139, 155, 158, 

187 note, 194. 
"Box and Cox," 199. 
Bray, John, 94. 
Brett, Miss Arabella (Mrs. 

John Hodgkinson), 59, 61, ! 

Brett, Mrs. (mother of Mrs. J. j 
Hodgkinson), 53, 61. 



Brewster, B. F, Attorney- Gen- 
eral of Penn., iio. 

Bristol, Eng., 64. 

Bristol, Pa., 124 note. 

Broadway Theatre, N. Y., 155 
note. 

"Broken Sword," 135. 

Brooke, Mrs. (Frances Moore), 

79- 
Brooklyn Museum, 162. 
" Brothers, The," 20, 64, 89. 
B rough Brothers, 198. 
Broicgh, William, 200. 
Brougham, John, 179. 
Brougham's Lyceum, N.Y., 179. 
Brown, Frederick, 104. 
Brown, J. Allston, preface, 133. 
Browize, Dr. John, 14. 
Browne, Isaac Hawkins (" To- 
bacco Browne "), 93. 
Bnmton, Anne (Mrs. Wignell, 

Mrs. Merry, Mrs. Warren), 

63. 64, 65, 68. 
Brunton, louisa (Countess of 

Craven), 65. 
Buckingham, Second Duke of, 

16, 19. 
Buckstone, J B., 173, 188. 
" Budget of Blunders," 91, 199. 
Buffalo, N. Y., 125. 
"Bulse of Diamonds," 87. 
" Bunker Hill," 85. 
Buntli7ie,Ned(E. C. Z. Judson), 

158. 
Burgoyne, Gen. John, 86, 87. 
Burham, Eng., 194. 
Burke, Charles St. Thomas. 
his birth, 153. 
his debitt, 153. 
his youth, 154. 
his rivalry with Burton, 

. J 54, 155- 
his last appearance, 155. 
his death, 156. 
his marriages, 156. 
his personal character, 1 56, 
162. 



2^0 



IXDEX. 



Burke, Charles St. Thomas. 
list of parts, 157, 158. 
his "Rip Van Winkle," 
159, 160, 186 et sea., 197, 
211. 
mention, preface, 141, 174, 
177, 186. 
Burke, Mrs. Charles (Margaret 

Murcoyne), 156. 
Burke, Mrs. Charles (Mrs. 

Sutherland), 156, 177. 
Burke, Edmund, 40, 47. 
Burke, lone (lone Sutherland), 

156, 183, 184. 
Burke, John £>., 55. 
Burke, Thomas, 70, 140, 153; 
sketch of, 167; mention, 168, 
169. 
Burke, Mrs. Thomas (Cornelia 
Frances Thomas). See Mrs. 
Joseph Jefferson [3rd]. 
Burnett, J. G., 180, 181, 184. 
Bums, Robert, 40. 
Burton, William E., 1 00, 154 
155 note, 178, 182, 199, 220 
225. 
Burton's Theatre, N. Y., 154. 
Busby, Dr., 89. 
" Busybody," 17, 27, 28. 
Bittler, Samuel (manager), 30, 

3 1 - 

Butler, Mrs. Samuel. See Fran- 
ces Jefferson. 

Butler, Samuel, Jr., 31. 

Butler, Mrs. Samuel, Jr., 31. 

Byron, Henry J., 185, 199, 
200. 

Byron, Lord, 41. 



Cafferty, Mr., 98. 

Ciin, Mr., 65. 

Caldwell, James II., 97, 1 46, 

168. 
"(aliph of Bagdad," 88. 
Callao, 185. 
Camden, Lord Chancellor, 47. 



Cameron, Simon, no. 
Canning, Mrs. (Mary Ann Cos- 

tello), 19. 
Canning, George, 19. 
"Captain Kyd," 157. 
" Captive of Spilsberg," 84. 
"Careless Husband," 18. 
Carpenter, C. S., 97. 
"Carpenter of Rouen," 199. 
Cartwright, William, 18. 
" Castle Spectre," 85, 86. 
Castleton, Staten Island, 140. 
" Catching an Heiress," 95. 
Cave, Edwa rd ( G e n 1 1 e m an 's 

Magazine), 93. 
Centlivre, Airs. Susanna, 16, 18, 

28, 93. 
Chambers, Mrs., 44. 
"Chamooni the Third," 200. 
"Chances, The," 19. 
Chanfrau, Frank S., 154, 156, 

162, 169, 175, 177, 178. 194. 
Chanfrau, Mrs. F. S., 184. 
Chapman, Samuel, 103, 130, 

131, 170. 
Chapman, Mrs. S. (Mrs. Rich- 
ardson, Mrs. Fisher). See 
Elizabeth Jefferson. 
Chapman, W., 187 note. 
" Chapter of Accidents," 90. 
Charles Edward Stuart (" The 

Pretender "), 4, 10. 
"Charles the Second" (Play), 

92. 
Charleston, S. C , 59, 160, 166, 

179, 209. 
Chatham, Earl of, 40. 
Chatham Garden Theatre, X. 

V., 64, 73, 140, 146. 
Chatter ton, Thomas, 40. 
Cherry, Andrew, 89. 
" Cheshire Cheese," 93. 
Chestnut Street Theatre, Phil- 
adelphia, preface, 13, 33 
note, 56 note, 61, 63, 64, 65, 
68, 69, 70, 71, 76, 77, 89, 91, 
95, 96, 99, 101, 108, 118, 120, 



INDEX. 



231 



122, 124 note, 129, 131, 139, 

148,153,155. 
Chicago, 111., 56 note, 142, 169, 

174, 196. 
" Child of the Regiment," 178, 

200. 
" Children of the Wood," 96. 
"Chimes, The" (Play), 158. 
Churchill, Charles, 23, 47. 
Church of Holy Trinity, Strat- 

ford-on-Avon, 196. 
Cibber, Colley, 15, 18, 19, 22, 39, 

43, 44, 68, 79, 82, 88, 89, 145, 

197, 229. 
Cibber, Susanna, 47. 
Cibber, Theophilus, 43, 44. 
Cincinnati, Ohio, 56 note, 172, 

187, 187 note. 
" C inderella " ( Pantomime ) , 94, 

96. 
City Hall, N. Y., 174. 
" Civilians, The," jj note. 
"Clandestine Marriage," 47. 
Clapp, W. W., preface, 53 note. 
Clark, Mrs. P. M. ( Mrs. G. Mar- 
shall). See Miss Harding. 
Clarke, John H., 131. 
Clarke, John S., 159, 160, 193, 

214, 226. 
Claude, Mrs. (Miss Hogg), 61. 
Clifton, Ada, 180. 
Clifton, Josephine, 1 70. 
Clinton, Mr. (actor), 181. 
Clive, General, 40. 
Clive, Kitty, 46, 47. 
Cobb, James, 80, 81, 88, 89, 90. 
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, 41. 
" Colleen Bawn," 183. 
Collins, Mr., 140. 
Collyer, Rev. Robert. His opin- 
ion of " Rip Van Winkle," 

191. 
Colman, George (Elder), 21, 80, 

129 note. 
Colman, George (Younger), 40, 

53, 79, 80, 81, 85, 87, 89, 90, 

92, 145, 198, 225. 



Columbian Centinel (newspa- 
per), 53 note. 

" Columbia's Daughter," 85. 

" Columbus," 86. 

"Comedy of Errors," 86, 89. 

"Committee, The," 10, 16. 

Commonwealth Theatre, N. Y., 
39 note. 

Compton, Henry {Mackenzie), 
214. 

Congreve, William, 16, 22, 28, 
225. 

" Conjugal Lesson," 198. 

Connor, E. S., 172. 

Conover, Mrs. (Mrs. J. H. Stod- 
dart), 179. 

"Conquering Game," 145. 

Cojtway, Mrs. F. B. (Miss 
Crocker), 178. 

Conway, William A., 73. 

Cooper, Thomas A., 55, 57, 62, 
71, 73, 108, 124 note, 223. 

Cornel lie, 22. 

Corre, Joseph, 61. 

" Corsican Lovers," 22. 

Couldock, C. W., 180, 181, 184. 

" Count Benyowsky," 61, 86. 

" County Heiress," 88. 

Courtney, H, 200. 

Covent Garden Theatre, 3 note, 
7, 8 note, 11, 15, 18, 20, 22, 
32 note, 33, 45 note, 46 note, 
59, 62 note, 64, 73, 79~9 2 > 
1 16 note, 125, 143 note, 158, 
197-199. 

Cowell, Joseph L., sketch of, 8 
note ; mention, preface, 68 
note, 77, 94, 95, 101, 112, 
129, 131 note, 132, 146, 147 
note, 172. 

Cowell, Mrs. Joseph L., 77. 

Cowell, Sam, 10 1. 

Cowell, Sydney Frances. See 
Mrs. H. L. Bateman. 

Cowell, Mrs. W. (Anna Cruise), 
178. 

Cozuley, Mrs. Hannah, 64, 79, 88. 



232 



INDEX, 



CtTciiper, Wm., 40. 

C <nv per, Mrs., 24. 

Coyle, Robert, 139. 

Crabbe, George, 50. 

Craven, Countess of (Louisa 

Brunton), 65. 
Crawford, Mrs. (Mrs. Dancer, 

Mrs. Barry), 12, 23. 
Cribillon, 15'. 

" Cricket on the Hearth," 182. 
"Critic, The," 16,81, 198. 
Crocker, John, 177. 
Crocker, Miss S. E. (Mrs. F. 

B. Conway), 178. 
Crooke, Mrs. (Mrs. Mason, 

Mrs. Entwistle), 140. 
Crosby, Sir Richard (Mr. Rich- 
ards), 61. 
Crow Street Theatre, Dublin, 

12, 43- 
Criakshank, George, 38. 
Cruise, Anna (Mrs. W. Cowell), 

178. 
Culloden (Battle Field), 411. 
Cumberland, Richard, preface, 

8 note, 20, 21, 55, 79, 81, 89. 
"Cure for the Heartache," 90, 

9 1 - 

Cushman, Charlotte, 158. 
" Cymbeline," 21, 83, 158. 
Cypress Hills, L. I., 196. 



Daly, Augustin, 193. 
Damaniant, Mons., 79. 
Dancer, Mrs. (Mrs. Crawford, 

Mrs. Bnrrv), 12, 23. 
Darley, Felix O. C, 98. 
Da r ley, George, 226. 
Darley, John, 70, 77, 98. 
Darley, Mrs. John (E. Wes- 

trav), 58, 77, 98. 
Davenant, Sir William, 125. 
Davenport, A. II. (" Dolly,''), 

183. 
Davenport, I. L., 220. 
Davies, Ion/, preface, 23, 26, 27. 



Davies, Airs. Tom, 23, 24. 
Davis, L. Clarke, preface, 158, 

159, 186. 
Dawes, Gertrude, 178. 
"Dead Shot," 31, 199. 
De Bar, Miss Blanche (Mrs. J. 

B. Booth, Jr.), 142. 
De Bio is, Mons., 53 note. 
" Deep, Deep Sea," 135. 
" Delays* and Blunders," 89. 
Dell, Henry, 15. 
Derrick, Samtiel (the pen-cut- 
ter), 93. 
Dent, John, 82. 
" Deserted Daughter," 54, 62 

note, 79. 
Dcssalines, John James, 165. 
De Vendel, Mr. E. (manager, 

Mobile), 147. 
" Devil upon Two Sticks," 90. 
Dexter, Mr., 12, 23. 
Dibdin, Charles, 79, 199. 
Dibdin, Thomas, 84, 85, 88, 125. 
Dickens, Charles, 135, 158, 1 82. 
Dodd, James, 47. 
Doddrell, Dr., 87. 
" Doldrum, The," 8^- 
Dogget, Thomas, 223. 
"Don Juan" (Play), 87. 
" Don Quixote," 80. 
Dorset Gardens Theatre, 
" Dot," 200. 
" Double Gallant," 18. 
" Double-faced People,' 
" Douglas," 117, 125. 
IK ,v, Alexander, 15. 
Downie, Mr., 66. 
Downie, Mrs., 66. 
Dowton, William, 225. 
Drake, Samuel, Sr., 97. 
" 1 dramatist/' 59, 90. 
Drew, John, 179. 
Drew, Mrs. John, 171, 

213, 217, 218 note. 
Drummond, Mrs. IV. C. (Mrs. 

Henry). Sec Mrs. G. H. 

Barrett. 



125. 



200. 



179. 



INDEX. 



233 



Drury Lane Theatre, 7, 8 note, 
ro, 11, 12, 14-16, 18-25, 27, 
28, 34, 39, 41 note, 46, 48 
note, 55, 57, 73, 74, 79" 82 > 8 4~ 
90, 92, 101, 124 note, 157, 198. 

Dry den, John, 15, 18, 21, 125. 

Dublin, Ireland, 11, 12, 29, 32, 
40, 43> 74 note. 

" Duenna, The," 88. 

Duff, John A., 169 note. 

Dicff John R., 74 note. 

Duffy Mrs. Mary, sketch of, 74 
note. 

Dumas, Mr. (manager, Mobile), 
147. 

" Dumb Belle," 135. 

Dunlap, William, preface, 48 
note, 53 note, 54, 55, 57, 58, 
63, 64 note, 66, 80-90, 124 
note, 145. 

Dunn, Rosa (Mrs. L. Lewis), 
185. 

Durang, C, 140. 

Durang, Mrs. C, 140. 

Durang, John, 66. 

Durang, Mrs. yohn, 66. 

Durie, Mrs., 132. 

Dwyer, Mr., 104. 



Eagle Theatre, Buffalo, 125. 

" East Indian, The," 84. 

Edinburgh, 196. 

Edwards, Henry, 185. 

Edwin, William, 142. 

Elliston, R. W., 75, 226. 

Ellsler, John, 179. 

Emery, John, 125, 226. 

" Englishman in Paris, The,"24. 

Entwistle, Mr., 75. 

Entwistle, Mrs. (Mrs. Mason, 

Mrs. Crooke), 140. 
" Ethiop, The," 69. 
" Evangeline," 183. 
" Every Man in His Humor,"82. 
" Every One has His Fault," 



Exeter, England, 37. 

Exeter Theatre, 10, 12, 29, 32, 

42, 74. 
"Exile, The," 143 note. 



Fagan, Mons., 79. 

" Fair Fugitive," 89. 

" Fair Penitent," 10, 21. 

" Fair Quaker," 19. 

Falconer, Edmitnd, 200. 

" False Delicacy," 19. 

" False Shame," 61, 85. 

" Family Jars," 173. 

Farjeon, B. L., 185, 195. 

Farjeon, Mrs. B. L. See Mar- 
garet Jane Jefferson. 

" Farmer, The," 116. 

Farquhar, George, 6, 16, 21. 

Farren, William, 226. 

" Fashionable Levities," 88. 

" Fashionable Lover," 21. 

" Fatal Discovery," 15. 

" Fatal Marriage," 14. 

Fawcett, John, 198. 

Fawkes, Gen., 9. 

Federal Street Theatre (Bos- 
ton Theatre), 53 note. 

" Female Forty Thieves," 158. 

Fennell, James, 88 ; sketch, 124 
note; mention, 126. 

Fielding, Henry, 86, 92, 93, 94, 

" Fiesco The," 87. 

Fifth Avenue Theatre, N. Y., 

194. 
Finn, Henry J., 134, 155, 173, 

174, 220. 
" First Floor, The," 90. 
" First Love," 81. 
Fisher, Alexina (Mrs. Lewis 

Baker), 142. 
Fisher, Charles J. B., 133, 

147. 
Fisher, Clara (Mrs. Maeder), 

i33> Hi, 147- 
Fisher, Clara (Younger), 133. 



234 



INDEX. 



Fisher, Mrs. See Elizabeth 
Jefferson. 

Fishrr, John, 131. 

Fiske, Stephen, 194. 

Fitz-Henry, Mrs., 12, 23. 

" Five Thousand a Year," 85. 

Fleetiuood, Chas. (manager), 11. 

Fletcher, John (statue-man), 
123. 

Florence, William J., 225. 

" Florizel and Perdita," 16. 

Floyd, William R., 191. 

Flynn, Miss, 182. 

Flynn, Thomas, 187 note. 

" Follies of a Day," 86. 

" Follies of Fashion," 88. 

" Folly as It Flies," 88. 

" Fontainebleau," 83. 

Foote, Josiah, 12, 32. 

Foote, Samuel, 12, 24, 39, 41, 
47, 48 note, 80, 83, 90, 226. 

" Force of Calumny," 84. 

Ford, John T., preface ; Rem- 
iniscences of Jefferson Third, 
142. 

Ford's Theatre, Baltimore, 
193, 214. 

Forrest, Edwin, 73, 89, 120, 121, 

134, i43» ! 46, i5 8 > *79> 223. 
Forrest, Mrs. Edwin, 134. 
Forrest, William, JJ, 121. 
" Fortress, The," 70, 71. 
Fortune, Esther (Mrs. William 

Warren, Sr.), 56. 
Fortune, Euphemia. See Mrs. 

Joseph Jefferson 2d. 
Fortune, Mrs., 55. 
" Fortune's Fool," 83. 
" Forty Thieves," 141. 
Fourteenth Street Theatre, N. 

Y., 160. 
Fox, Geo. I., 178, 191. 
Fox, Mr., 61, 66. 
"Fra Diavolo" (Burlesque), 

200. 
Frauds, Wm., 65, 66, 70, 99, 

108, 124 note, 126. 



Francis^ Mrs. Wm.> 66, 70, 

77- 
Franklin, Andrew, 85. 
Franklin Theatre, N. Y., 95, 

141, 174. 
Eraser, Simon (Lord Lovat), 9, 

10. 
" Fraternal Discord," 58, 83. 
Freeman, Mr., 72. 
" Frenchified Lady," 15. 
" Funeral, The," 25. 



Gainsborough, Thos., 47. 

Galena, 111., 169. 

Galloway, James, 214, 218 note. 

Gait, John, preface, 41 note. 

"Gamester," 16, 21. 

Garcia, Mad., 133. 

Garner, Mr., 77. 

Garrick, David, preface, 10-19, 
21, 27, 28, 39, 40, 41, 45-48 
note, 60, 63, 79, 80, 83, 91, 93, 
112, 125, 165, 219, 220, 224; 
his first meeting with Jeffer- 
son, 5, 6; professional asso- 
ciation with Jefferson, 7, 
219; his Abel Drugger, 8, 
20 ; his first dramatic at- 
tempt, 93. 

Garrick, Peter, 93. 

Gates, Gen. Horatio, 86. 

Gates, Wm., 155. 

Geneste, Mr., 28. 

George II., 3, 41 note, 83. 

George III, 41 note. 

George IV., 41 note. 

Gerard, Moris., 24. 

German, Effie, 95, 180, 182. 

German, G. C, 95. 

German, Mrs. (Jane Ander- 
son), 77, 95, 122, 142, 147, 
1S7 note. 

"Gheber, The," 74. 

Gibbon, Edward, 47. 
Gibson, Judge John B., sketch 
of, 107 note ; mention, 108. 



INDEX. 



235 



Gibson, Lieut. Col., 107 note. 

Gifford, Wm., 64. 

Gilbert, John, 226. 

" Gil Bias" (Pantomime), 88. 

Gilliland Mr. (Dramatic Mir- 
ror), preface, 25, 33 note. 

Gladstane, Miss. See Mrs. J. 
D. Rice. 

Globe Theatre, Boston, 90. 

Glover, Mr., 23. 

Godwin, Wm., 198. 

Goldsmith, Oliver, 40, 47, 198. 

Goodman's Fields Theatre, 11, 
48 note. 

" Good Neighbor, The," 88. 

"Good Spec, The," 90. 

Goicnod Chas. (composer), 93. 

" Grande Duchesse," 160. 

Grand Opera House, N.Y., 194. 

Gray, Thomas, 40. 

Gray, Jackson, 98. 

Greene, John, 70, yy. 

Greene, Mrs. John (Annie 
Nuskay), 70, 77. 

"Green Man, The," 125. 

Greenwood Cemetery, 74 note. 

" Guardian, The," 79. 

Guernsey, 91. 

Gurner, Mrs. (Miss Telbin), 
132, 141. 

"Guy Mannering," 91. 



Hackett, J. H., 125, 154, 187, 

188, 211, 226. 
Hadaway, Thomas, 155. 
" Half an Hour After Supper," 

S3- 

Hallam, Joint, yy. 

Hallam, Lewis, 52, 53, 55, 58, 

59, 61. 
Hallam, Mrs. Lewis (Miss 

Luke), 57, 61. 
Hallam, Mirvin, jj. 
Hamblin, Thos., 73, 179. 
Hamilton, Mrs., 23. 
Hamilton, W. H, 178. 



"Hamlet," 21, 80, 145, 197. 

Hampton, Eng., 47. 

Hanchett, Mrs. (Emma War- 
ren, Mrs. Price), 56 note. 

" Handsome Husband," 200. 

" Happiest Day of my Life," 
199. 

Harding, Miss (Mrs. G. Mar- 
shall, Mrs. P. M. Clark), 61, 
140. 

Harkins, D. H, 1 94. 

" Harlequin's Vagaries," 80. 

Harper, J., 61. 

Harper, Mrs. J. (the 1st), 61. 

Harper &= Brothers, 8 note. 

" Harper's Daughter," 86. 

Harrisburg, Pa., 104, 107, 117, 
118, 122, 141. 

Harrison, H.B., 131. 

Harrison, Mrs. H B., 132, 141. 

Harrowgate Theatre, 30. 

Hastings, Warren, 40. 

Hathwell, Mr., 70. 

Hanghton, Miss, 24. 

" Haunted Tower," 80. 

Havard, Wm., 24. 

Hazvkeszuorth, Dr. John, 18. 

Hay den, Mr., 132. 

Haydon, Benj., 38. 

Hay don, Benj. Robert, 38 note. 

Hayes, James E., 169. 

Haymarket Theatre, London, 
io, 17, 19, 41 note, 71, 79, 
80, 81, 82, 83, 85, 86, 89, 90, 
96, 125, 129 note, 191, 193, 
198, 199, 214. 

Heaphy, Mr., 12, 23. 

" Hear Both Sides," 89. 

" Heart of Mid Lothian," 183. 

" Heir at Law," 85, 185, 198. 

Henderson, John, 13 note, 39, 
60, 225. 

"Henry the Fourth" (Shak- 
speare's), 88, 154, 198. 

Henry IV. of Eng., 81. 

Henry, John, 59. 

Henry, Wm., 142. 



236 



INDEX. 



Hetiry, Mrs. Wm., 141. 

Henry, Miss (Mrs. G. H. Bar- 
rett, Mrs. W. C. Drum- 
mond), 140. 

" Heroine of the Cave," 16. 

Heron, Matilda, 183. 

Herring, Fanny, 17S. 

" He's Much to Blame," 82. 

Hewitt^ Mr. (composer), 84. 

"He Would be a Soldier," 71, 
91. 

Hcyl, Lewis J., 77. 

Hiffernan, Pat//, 16. 

Hill, Aaron, 34. 

Hoadley, Dr. Benj., 83. 

Hoare, Prince, 81, 83, 84, 86, 199. 

Hobart Town, 1S5. 

Hodges, Mr., 147. 

Hodges, Mrs. Coppleston (Miss 
Nelson, Mrs. John Brough- 
am), 147. 

Hodgkiuson, John, 5?, 53, 58, 
sketch, 59; mention, 61, 63, 
90, 114, 223. 

Hodgkinson, Mrs. John (Mrs. 
J. S. Munden), 59- 

Hodgkinson, Mrs. John (Miss 
Brett), 59, 61, 82. 

" Hofer," 157. 

Hogarth, Wm., 47. 

Hogg, John, 58, 61. 

Hogg, Mrs. John (Ann Storer), 
ox. 

Hogg, Miss (Mrs. Claude), 61. 

Hohokus, N.J , 20, 148, 192. 

Holcroft, Thomas, 61, 62 note, 
79, 80, 81, 82, 86, 88, 89, 198, 
225. 

Holland, Charles, 13 note, 47. 

Holland, George, 72, I S3, 214. 

Ilolliday Street Theatre, Balti- 
more, 179. 

Holman, J. G., 88. 

" I Ionic," 191. 

Home, Rev. John, 15, 19, 117, 
125. 

" Honeymoon," 89, 92. 



Hood, Thos., 161, 225. 
Hook, Theodore, 71, 87, 90. 
" Hope of the Family," 200. 
" Horse and the Widow," 84. 
Ho sack, H, 77. 
" House to be Sold," 89. 
Howard Athenaeum, Boston, 

56 note, 125. 
Howard, James, 77. 
Howard, Sir Robert, 10, 16. 
Hudson, Henry, 202, 208. 
Hudson, James, 179. 
Hughes, Charles, 97. 
Hughes, Mrs. C, 97. 
Hull, Thomas, 45, 46 note. 
" Humorist, The," 38. 
"Hunchback," 3 note, 132, 

134, 135. 141- 
" Hunchback of Notre Dame," 

J 35- 

Hunt, Miss, 66. 

Hunter, Mr. (Garrick's teach- 
er), 93- 

" Hunter of the Alps," 145. 

" Husband of an Hour," 200. 

Hut ton, Joseph. 97. 

Hu/ton, Mrs. Joseph, 97. 

Hutton, Laurence, preface, ref- 
erence to Chas. Burke, 155. 

" Hypocrite, The," 15, 88. 

" I 'll Tell You What," 79. 
"Illustrious Stranger," 119 

note, 154, 158. 
" In and Out of Place," 177. 
Tnchbald, Mrs. Elizabeth, 79, 

82, 87, 89, 92, 199. 
"Independence of America," 

Si. 
" Indians in England," 85. 
Ingersoll, David, 96. 
Ingersoll, Mrs. David. See 

nfary Anne Jefferson. 
" Invisible Prince," 1S3, 200. 
" Ion," 154. 
Ireland, J. N., preface, 31, 74, 

83, 132, 144, 167, 194. 






INDEX. 



237 



" Irish Mimic," 88. 
" Iron Chest," 90, 198. 
Irving, Pierre M., 208. 
Irving, Washington, 186, 201, 

207, 211. 
" Isabel," 199. 
" Isabella," 15. 
Isherwood, W., 187 note. 
Isherwood, Mrs. H, 177. 
" Italian Father," 61, 86. 
" Italian Monk," 86. 
" Ivanhoe," 198. 



Jackson, Charles, 169. 
Jackson, Mrs. See Cornelia 

Jefferson. 
Jackson, Gen., 113. 
"Jacob Leisler," 158. 
yamieson, George, 183. 

Jane Shore, 19. 
"Jealous Wife," 21. 
Jefferson, Charles Burke (son 
of Jefferson 4th), sketch, 195. 
Jefferson, Cornelia (Mrs. Jack- 
son), daughter of Jefferson 
3d, sketch, 169; mention, 
174, 180, 184. 
Jefferson, Elizabeth, daughter 

of Jefferson 1st, 30: 
Jefferson, Elizabeth (Mrs. 
Chapman - Richardson- Fish- 
er), daughter of Jefferson 2d, 
sketch of her life, 96, 129- 

136. 
her debict, 132. 
list of characters, 135. 
her reminiscences of Jef- 
ferson 2d, 113. 
her reminiscences of Jef- 
ferson 3d, 143. 
her reminiscences of Jef- 
ferson 4th, 173. 
her reminiscences of 

Charles Burke, 156. 
mention, preface, 44, 122, 
141, 142, I47» I5 8 > l8 7- 



Jefferson, Euphemia (Mrs. 
William Anderson), daugh- 
ter of Jefferson 2d, sketch of, 
94; mention, 95, 98, 103. 
Jefferson, Frances (Mrs. Sam- 
uel Butler), daughter of Jef- 
ferson 1st, 30, 31, 34. 
Jefferson, Frances Florence, 
daughter of Jefferson 4th, 195. 
Jefferson, Frank, son of Jeffer- 
son 1st, 4, 30. 
Jefferson, George, son of Jeffer- 
son 1st, 30. 
Jefferson, Henry, son of Jeffer- 
son 4th, 196. 
Jefferson, Hester (Mrs. Alex- 
ander McKenzie), daughter 
of Jefferson 2d, sketch of, 
96; mention, 98. 
Jefferson, Jane, daughter of 

Jefferson 2d, 96, 103. 
Jefferson, John, son of Jeffer- 
son 1st, 25. 
Jefferson, John, son of Jeffer- 
son 2d, sketch of, 94 ; men- 
tion, 70, 77, 97, 103, T04, 118, 
121, 122, 153, 187 note. 
Jefferson, Mrs. John (wife of 

John 2d), 77. 
Jefferson, Joseph (Jefferson 2d), 
mention, preface, 8, 25, 26, 
28, 31, 124 note, 148, 
208, 224. 
his birth, 28, 34, 51. 
his youth in England, 51. 
his emigration to Amer- 
ica, 52. 
first appearance in Amer- 
ica, 53. 
professional life in New 

York, 56-63. 
his marriage, 56, 94. 
in " Old Men," 62. 
settles in Philadelphia, 63 

et sea. 
his personal character, 78, 
112, 114 et sea., 126, 221. 



238 



INDEX. 



Jefferson, Joseph (Jefferson 2d), 
his personal appearance, 

no. 
his closing days, 103. 
his death, 107. 
his grave, 108. 
his children, 94-99. 
list of parts, 79-94. 
his Sadi in " Don Quix- 
ote," 80. 
his Polonius, 80. 
his Partner Ashfield, 83. 
his Jeremy Diddler, 89. 
Ludlow's opinion of his 
acting, 71; Kennedy's, 
77 ; N. P. Willis's, 78 ; 
Joseph Cowell's, 101 ; 
William Wood's, 103 ; 
Wemyss's, 106 ; Eliza- 
beth Jefferson's reminis- 
cences of him, 114. 
Jefferson, Mrs. Joseph (2d), 
Euphemia Fortune, mention, 
5 6 - 57. 70, 77, 96, 103. 
her birth, 94. 
Jefferson, Joseph (Jefferson 3d), 
mention, preface, 8, 94, 95, 
97, 112, 122, 133, 154, 168, 
174, 208- 224. 
his birth, 139. 
his first appearance, 139. 
his marriage, 140. 
his personal character, 

142, 143, 144, 148, 223. 
his versatility, 142. 
his death, 147. 
list of parts, 145. 
his personal appearance, 
149 note. 
Jefferson, Mrs. Joseph (3d) 
(Cornelia Frances Thomas, 
Mrs. Burke), mention, pref- 
ace, 67, 122, 140, 141, 144, 

153. 174- 

her birth, 165. 
her debut, 167. 
her marriage to Burke, 167. 



Jefferson, Mrs. Joseph (3d), 
her marriage to Jefferson, 

168. 
her death, 170. 
her grave, 156, 170. 
Ludlow's reminiscences of 

her, 168. 
Jefferson, Joseph (4th), men- 
tion, preface, 4, 20, 29, 67, 
72, 105 note, 109, no, 123, 
124, 141, 142, 148, 159, 161, 
168. 

his birth, 170. 

anecdotes of his youth, 

123. 
his love for his brother 

Charles Burke, and his 

opinion of his acting, 

160. 
his debut, 171. 
juvenile parts, 174. 
strolling life, 175. 
first appearance as a man 

in New York, 177. 
first marriage, 178, 194. 
in the East and South, 

179. 183. 
his rebuke of W. R. Blake, 

180. 
death of his first wife, 184, 
in California, 184. 
in Australia, etc, 184 et seq. 
his London debut, 189. 
European professional life, 

193- A . 
return to America, 190. 
second marriage, 192, 196. 
list of characters, 197 et 

set/. 
as Asa Trenchard, 181. 
as Rip Van Hinhle, r86, 

189, 191, 201 et seq., 

211. 
as Bob Acres, 209 et seq. 
his versatility, 197. 
his originality, 224, 226. 
his children, 195, 196. 






INDEX. 



239 



Jefferson, Mrs. Joseph (4th) 
(Mrs. Lockyer, his 1st wife), 
mention, 178, 179, 198. 
sketch of, 194 et seq. 
her death, 184. 

Jefferson, Mrs. Joseph (4th) 
(Miss Sarah Warren, his 2d 
wife), 196. 

Jefferson, Joseph, son of Jeffer- 
son 4th, 196. 

Jefferson, Joseph Warren, son 
of Jefferson 4th, 196. 

Jeffersoit,Josephine Duff, daugh- 
ter of Jefferson 4th, 196. 

Jefferson, Margaret Jane (Mrs. 
Far j eon), daughter of Jef- 
ferson 4th, 195. 

Jefferson, Mary Anne (Mrs. 
David Ingersoll, Mrs. J. S. 
Wright), daughter of Jeffer- 
son 2d, sketch, 96 ; mention, 
122. 

Jefferson, Thomas (Jefferson 
1st), preface, 
his birth, 3. 
his youth, 4. 
his meeting with Garrick, 

5,7.9.11- 

his debut, 5, 7, 9, 1 1. 

his professional associa- 
tion with Garrick, 19, 
20, 219. 

his early professional ca- 
reer, 10. 

management of the Plym- 
outh Theatre, 12, 31- 

.33- 
his long career, 31. 
his last appearance, 34. 
his death, 45. 
list of parts, 14-22. 
his rank as an actor, 13, 

14, 23, 219. 
his private character, 39, 

41, 44. 
his merry temperament, 

35-38, 42. 



Jefferson, Thomas (Jefferson 
1 st), 
his contemporaries, 48. 
his influence on the stage, 
220, 224. 
Jefferson, Mrs. Thomas (1st) 
(Miss May, first wife), men- 
tion, 22, 23, 27, 29. 

sketch of her life, 25-30. 
her death, 28, 34. 
Jefferson, Mrs. Thomas (1st), 
Miss Wood, second (or 
third) wife, sketch of her 
life, 30. 
Jefferson Thomas, son of Jef- 
ferson 2d, 
sketch, 94. 
his death, 98. 
mention, 96, 97, 153. 
Jefferson, Thomas (Jefferson 
5th), son of Jefferson 4th. 
sketch, 196. 

mention, preface, 214,218, 

218 note. 

Jefferson, Thomas, President 

of the United States, in, 

112, 113. 

Jefferson, William Winter, son 

of Jefferson 4th, 196. 
" Jenny Lind," 198. 
"Jim Crow," 172. 
Joannes, Count (George Jones), 

154- 
" John Bull," 92, 145, 198. 
" John Bull in Paris/' 8^ 
" John of Paris," 168. 
Johnson, David, jy. 
Johnson, John, 53. 
Johnson, Mrs. John, 53, 81. 
Johnson, Dr. Samicel, 21, 23, 

40, 47, 93- 
Johnston, T. B., 180, 183. 
John Street Theatre, N. Y., 

5 2 , 53, 55, 59, 62, 80, 81, 83, 

114. 
" Jonathan Bradford," 158, 175, 

177. 



240 



INDEX. 



Jones, George (Count Joannes), 

154- 

Jones, Henry, 16. 
Jones 1 Dr. J. S. t 1 57. 

Jones, John, 131. 
Jones, William, 77. 
Jon son, Ben, 8, 20, 82. 
Jordan, Dora, 48, 81. 
Jordan, George, 179, 180, 183. 
Judson, E. C. Z. ("Ned Bunt- 
line"), 158. 



Kean, Charles, preface. 

Kean, Edmund, 223. 

Keene, Laura, 169, 180, 182. 

Keif, Mrs., 23. 

Kelly, Hugh, 19. 

AW/y, Michael, 89. 

Kemble, Charles, 91, 226. 

Kemble, John P., 55, 125, 198. 

Kempe, Wm., 226. 

Kendal, Eng., 30. 

Kennedy, John P., 77. 

Kennedy, Mr., 12. 

Kennedy; Mrs., 23. 

Kenney, James, 89, 119 note, 

199. 
Kent, Eng., 8 note. 
AV^y, y?/r. (Plymouth theatre), 

3 2 - 
A?rr, A/r., 187 note. 
" Killing No Murder," 90. 
Kilmarnock, Earl of , 10. 
K/hier, Mrs. Tho?nas, 140. 
"'King Arthur," 16. 
" King Lear," 186, 198, 224. 
King Thomas, 39, 47. 
Kirby, James (clown), 75. 
Klett, Mr., 77. 
Kncllcr, Godfrey, 223. 
Knight Mrs. E. (Eliza Povey), 

141. 
Knight^ T., 8 note, 
" Knight's Adventure," 90. 
" Knights of the Golden 

Fleece," 135. 



Knowles, Sheridan, 132, 134,157. 
" Know Your Own Mind," 80. 
Kotzebue, Augustus F. F. Von, 

S 7, 58, 82, 83, 84, 85, 87, 88, 

145- 



Lacy, John,* 48 note, 93. 
"Lady of Lyons," 135. 
" Lady of the Lake," 141, 168. 
"Lady of the Lions" (Bur- 
lesque), 158. 
Lafolle, Mrs. (Mrs. Alexander 

Placide), 70. 
Lamb, Charles, 124 note, 225, 

226. 
Lambeth Palace, 16. 
Lancaster, Pa., 94, 121, 122, 141. 
Latham, W. H., 131, 142. 
"Laugh When You Can," 84. 
Laura Keene's Theatre, N. Y., 

169, 180, 182, 183, 184, 200, 

208, 211. 
Laura Keene's Varieties, N. Y., 

182. 
Leduc, M. (Opera Bouffe), 160. 
Lee, Nat., 20. 
Lee, Sophia, 90. 

"Lend Me Five Shillings," 198. 
V Estrange, Mr., 66. 
" Lethe," 48 note. 
Levick, Milnes, 181. 
Lcvick, Mrs. Mi hies, 182. 
Lewcllen, Mr., 142. 
Lewes, Eng., 10, 25. 
Lewis, Louis A., 185. 
Lewis, Mrs. (Rosa Dunn), 1S5. 
Lewis, M. G., 84, 85, 86, 87. » 
Lewis, Philip. 10 note. 
Lewis, William T., io note, 89. 
" Liar, The," 80. 
" Libera] ( ►pinions," 88. 
I.'k hfield, Eng., 20. 
Lichtenberg (German critic), 20. 
"File," 84. 
"Life and Death of Tom 

Thumb," 83. 



INDEX. 



241 



Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre, 

16, 21. 
" Linda," 200. 
Linn, Rev. John Blair, 82. 
Liston, J., 74, 125, 226. 
" Loan of a Lover," 135. 
" Lock and Key," 83 
Locke " Yankee" 178. 
Lockyer, Margaret Clement. See 

Mrs. Joseph Jefferson 4th. 
London, 3 note, 4, 5, 8 note, 9 

10, 11, 12, 17, 27, 32 note, 33 

note, 40, 57, 63, 76, 78, 91, 

180, 186, 187 note, 188, 189, 

195, 196, 211, 214. 
" London Assurance," 133. 
" London Hermit," 81. 
Longfellow, H. W., 183. 
Lostwithiel, Eng., 36. 
" Lottery," 86. 
" Lottery Ticket," 173. 
V Onver Hire Toussaint, 166. 
Lovat, Lord, 9, 10. 
"Love Chase,' - ' 135. 
" Love Makes a Man," 82. 
" Lovers' Quarrels," 64. 
" Lovers' Vows," 82. 
" Love's Contrivance," 92. 
Loxuin, John, 226. 
" Lucille," 199. 
Ludlozv, Cornelia Burke (Mrs. 

M. C. Field), 16S. 
Ludlow, N. M., preface, 71, 74, 

95, 97, 98, 147 note, 155, 175, 

187 note, 188. 
Ludlow aiid Smith, 172. 
Lussant, Mme., 24. 
" Lying Valet," 38 note. 



" Macbeth," 94, 139, 145, 197. 
Macklin, Charles, 12, 14, 23,39, 

47. /§• 
Macklin, Miss Maria, 24. 
Macon, Ga., 179, 195. 
Macready, William C, J 3, J 6, 

158, 220. 



Maddox, Mr. (wire-dancer), 43, 

44. 
Madison, President, 113. 
Maeder, Mrs. See Clara Fisher. 
Magnolia Cemetery, Mobile, 

147. 
Maguire's Opera House, San 

Francisco, 184. 
Mahon, Mr., 23. 
Mahon, Mrs., 23. 
" Maid of the Oaks," 86. 
"Male Coquette," 16. 
Mallet, David, 19, 27, 28. 
Manchester, Eng., 59. 
" Man of Fortitude," 80, 90. 
" Man of the Mill," 22. 
" Man of Ten Thousand," 81. 
Mansfield, Chief Justice W. M., 

47- 
Marble, Mrs. Danford. See 

Anne Warren. 
Margaret, Queen (of Henry IV. 

of England), 81. 
" Married Life," 135, 145. 
"Married Lovers," 135. 
Marshall, E. A., 155 note. 
Marshall, Mr., 124 note. 
Marshall, Mrs. See Mrs. 

Wilmot. 
Marshall, Mrs. G. (Mrs. P- M. 

Clark). See Miss Harding. 
Marshall, Wyzeman, 178. 
Martin, John, 57, 61. 
Mason, J. K., 131. 
Mason, Mrs. (Mrs. Crooke, 

Mrs. Entwistle), 140. . 
Massinger, Philip, 87. 
Mathews, Charles (Elder), 90. 
Mathews, Charles (Younger), 

209, 226. 
Matthews, Cornelius, 158. 
" Matteo Faleoni," 174. 
Mattocks, George, 45 note. 
" Mazeppa," 199. 
Mazzinghi, Joseph, 88. 
May, Miss. See Mrs. Thomas 

Jefferson 1st. 



242 



INDEX. 



McDouall, Henry, 182. 
McKce, Thomas J., preface. 
McKenzie, Alexander, 96, 97, 

142, 147, 154- 
McKenzie, Mrs. Alexander. See 

Hester Jefferson. 
McNally, Leonard, 88. 
McVicker, J. H, 178. 
McVicker's Theatre, Chicago, 

191, 195. 
Meadows, Drmkwater, sketch 

of, 3 note ; mention, 34, 46. 
Mecr, Mr., 77. 
Meer, Mrs., 77. 
Melbourne, Australia, 185. 
Melbourne, Mr., 66. 
Mel moth, Mrs., 61. 
Mendelssohn, 161. 
" Merchant of Venice," 22, 84, 

145- 
" Merry Girl," 79. 
Merry, Robert, 11 note, 64, 65. 
Mei-ry, Mrs. Robert (Anne 

Brunton), 63-66, 68. 
" Merry Wives of Windsor," 

92, 97, 197. 
Mestayer, Mr. (Elder), 66. 
Me stayer, Emily, 178. 
Mestayer, Mrs. Chas. See Mrs. 

Barney Williams. 
" Metamora," 140. 
" Metamoras," 177. 
Metropolitan Theatre, N. Y., 

182. 
Mexico, 177. 
" Midas," 199. 
" M idnight Hour," 79. 
"Midsummer Night's Dream," 

169, 191. 
Miller, John D., 54, 55. 
Mills, Mr., 104. 
"Minister, The," 86. 
" Miss in Ilcr Teens," 61, 91. 
Mitchell, Wm., [78. 
Mitre Tavern, London, 93. 
"Mobb, the Outlaw" (Robert 

Macaire) 141. 



Mobile Theatre, 133, 146. 147, 

156. 
" Mock Doctor," 92, 93. 
Mali ere, 15, 18, 92, 94. 
Moncrief, Wm. T., 157. 
Monroe, James, President, 1 13. 
Monvel, Mr., 85. 
Moody, John, 27, 47. 
Moore, Edward, 16. 
Moore, Thomas, 74 note. 
Mor eland, H. G., 140. 
Morris, Owen, 66. 
Morris, Mrs. Owen, 66. 
Morton, Thomas, 81-83, 90, 91, 

96, 100, 147, 197, 199. 
Mossop, Henry, 12-14, 2 3> 39> 

42, 43. 47- 
"Mother and Child," 199. 
" Mountaineers," 54. 80. 
Monntfort, Wm., 226. 
Mount Vernon Gardens, New 

York, 61. 
" Much Ado About Nothing," 

17, 21, 54 82, 145, 185, 197. 
Munden, Mrs. See Mrs. Hodg- 

kinson. 
Munden, Joseph S., 59, 225, 226. 
Munden, Mrs. J. S., 59. 
Murcoyne, Margaret. See Mrs. 

Chas. Burke. 
Murphy, Arthur, 15, 21, 80, 90, 

101. 
Murray, Chas., 18. 
Murray, Mr., 77. 
Murray, Mrs., yy. 
" Murrell the Land Pirate," 

156, 158. 
Musical Fund Society of Phila- 
delphia, 133. 
Muzzy, Mrs. Chas. E., 178. 
" My Grandmother," 81. 
" My Neighbor's Wife," 199. 
"My Son Diana," 200. 
"Mysteries and Miseries of 

New York," 158. 
" Mysteries of the Castle," 85. 
" My Wife's Mother," 135. 



INDEX. 



243 



Nashville, Tenn., 96, 98. 
National Theatre, New York, 

154, 169, 175, 177-179. x 95> 

200. 
" Natural Daughter," 82. 
Neagle, John, preface, 8 note. 
Neal, Joseph, 96. 
Neilson, Adelaide, preface. 
Nelson, Lord, 8 note. 
" New Brooms," 37 note. 
New Iberia, La., 192. 
New National Theatre, N.Y. 

(Chatham), 154. 
New Orleans, La., 74, 168. 
New Theatre, N. Y. (Park), 55. 
" New Way to Pay Old Debts/' 

87, 145- 

New York, 33 note, 53-55, 63, 
67, 71-74 note, 113, 115, 117, 

133. 140, 154, *5 6 > l6 5> l6 7- 
169, 171, 178, 190, 196, 214. 

" Next Door Neighbor," 82. 

Nexsen, Gilbert, 131. 

Niblo's Garden Theatre, N. Y., 
141, 179. 

"Nicholas Nickleby" (play), 

J 35- 

"Nick of the Woods," 178. 
Noah, Major M. M., 145. 
Nokes, Robert, 226. 
"Non-juror," 15, 88. 
North American Coffee House, 

London, 76. 
"No Song No Supper," 199. 
" Note of Hand," 20. 
Novell o, Miss, 188. 
Nuskay, Aiine. See Mrs. John 

Greene. 

O'Brien, Fitz- James, 200. 
" Octoroon," 182, 199. 
" Of Age to-morrow," 135. 
O'JTara, Kane, 81, 179. 
O'Keefe, John, 79, 81, 83, 87, 

88, 92, 116 note, 158, 195. 

" Old Bachelor," 22, 24, 27, 28. 
Oldfield, Mrs., 18. 



" Old Heads and Young 
Hearts," 198. 

Oldmixon, Mrs., 55, 58, 66. 

" Old Phil's Birthday," 200. 

"OleBull," 154, 157. 

Oliff, Wm., prompter, 140. 

01 iff. Miss, 140. 

"Oliver Twist" (Play), 135, 
182. 

Olympic Theatre, N. Y. (Mitch- 
ell's), 179. 

Olympic Theatre, N. Y. (Lau- 
ra Keene's), 169, 180, 190, 
191, 200. 

" Othello," 197. 

"Othello" (Travestie), 158. 

Otway, Thomas, 145. 

" Our American Cousin," 181, 
184, 185, 200, 211. 

"Our Japanese Embassy," 183. 

"Ours," 200. 

Owens, John E., 225. 

Oxenford, John, 190. 

Oxford, Eng., 518. 

" Paddy the Piper," 200. 

Palmer, John, 16, 47. 

Palmer, Robert, 24. 

Palo Alto, 177. 

Parepa, Rosa, 144. 

Paris, France, 180, 196. 

" Parish Clerk," 198. 

Park Theatre, New York, 8 
note, 13, 31, 33 note, 48 note, 
55, 57, 58, 61, 63, 64, 82, 86, 
88, 95, 96, 130-134, 140, 158, 
167, 171, 186, 187, note. 

Parker, Mr., 77. 

Parsons, Charles B., 187. 

Parsons, William, 47. 

Parsons, Mrs. William, 23. 

Pascoe, C. E., 190. 

" Paul and Virginia " (Opera), 
88, 98. 

Paul, Eugenia (wife of Jeffer- 
son 5th), 218 note. 

"Paul Pry," 73, 158. 



: 4 4 



INDEX. 



Payne, John Howard, 92. 

Pearson, Harry, 183. 

Petty, Julia, 178. 

Pellisier, Victor (composer), 82. 

Pendleton, Mark, 218 note. 

" People's Lawyer," 157. 

Petersburg, Va., 97. 

Peters, Charles, 180, 181. 

"Pet of the Petticoats," 135. 

Phelps, H. P., preface, 64 note. 

Phoenix Theatre, Dublin, 87. 

Philadelphia, Pa., 32 note, 56 
note, 57, 59, 63, 67, 68, 70, 
71, 76, 91, 95,' 96-98, 100- 
102, 104, 107, no, 115, 117, 
121, 122, 124 note, 129, 131 
note, 133, 139, 140, 149 note, 
153, 167, 168, 170, 179. 

Pilgrim, James, 200. 

Pillow, Frank, 71, 91. 

Pitt, C. D., 178. 

Pitt, Mrs. (Exeter Theatre), 12. 

Pittsburg, Pa., 172. 

" Pizarro," 84, 145, 199. 

Placide, Alexandre, 166. 

Placide, Mrs. Alexandre. See 
Mrs. Lafolle. 

Placide, Caroline (Mrs. War- 
ing), 140, 166. 

Placide, Eliza, 98, 166. 

Placide, Henry, 131, 166, 226. 

Placide, Jane, 166. 

Placide, Thomas, 131, 166. 

Plant us, Titus Maccius, 18. 

Plymouth Theatre, preface, 8 
note, 10, 12, 19, 27, 31-36, 

45» 47, 5 1 - 
Plu/umer, Mr. Cramer, 142. 
Pocock, Isaac, 125. 
Toole, John, 158. 
" Poor Gentleman," 87, 145, 

197. 
" Poor Pillicoddy," 199. 
" Poor Soldier," 158, 178, 195 

note. 
" Poor Vulcan," 79. 
Porter, Anna .Maria, 89. 



Porte)', Charles S., 77. 
Portsmouth, Eng., 32 note. 
Pottsville, Pa., 122. 
Povey, Eliza. See Mrs. E. 

Knight. 
Povey, John, 132. 
Pcnvell, C.S.,^1, 52,63, 124 note. 
Po7oell, Snelling, 61, 63, 124 

note. 
Pcnvell, Mrs. Snelling (Miss 

Harrison), 61. 
Powell, William, 13 note, 47. 
Pcnaer, Tyrone, 134. 
Pray, Miss. See Mrs. Barney 

Williams. 
Price, Mrs. (Emma Warren, 

Mrs. Hanchett), 56 note. 
Price, Stephen, 8 note. 
" Pride of the Market," 158. 
Prigmore, Air., 34. 
Princess's Theatre, London, 3 

note, 93, 193. 
" Prisoner," 81. 
Pritchard, Mrs. Hannah, 23, 

24, 39- 
" Prize," 91. 
Proctor, Joseph, 178. 
Proctor, Mrs. (Hester Warren, 

Mrs. Willis), 56 note. 
" Promotion," 145. 
" Provoked Husband," 53, 79. 
" Provoked Wife," 21. 
Pynn, Eng., 32. 

" Quarter of an Hour be- 
fore Dinner," 83. 

Quiu, James, 21, 39 note, 220, 
226. 

Rabelais, 225. 

Rachel, Mile., 22. 
Raddiffe, Mrs. Ann, 86. 
"Raising the Wind," 89, 140, 

199. 
Rand, Rosa, 214. 
Raymond, John T, 226. 
Reade, Charles, 200. 



INDEX. 



245 



"Recruiting Officer," 21. 
Reddish, Samuel, 13 note, 16, 

I9» 2 3> 47, 
his death, 29. 
.^Vev/, David. 149 note. 
i^cVj-, James, preface. 
i?^v, >>&«, 188, 226. 
Reeve, Wm. (composer), 88. 
"Rehearsal," 16. 
Reinagle, the Elder (manager), 

65. 
" Relapse," 88. 
" Rendezvous," 199. 
" Reprisal," 15. 
" Retaliation," 88. 
Reiding, Doctor, 192. 
" Revenge," 22. 
" Review," 89, 19S. 
" Revolution," 158. 
Reynolds, Frederick, 59, 81-84, 

87, 89, 90, 143 note. 
Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 47. 
Rice, J. B., 56 note. 
Rice, Mrs. J. B. See Mary 

Ann Warren. 
Rice, Thomas D. ("Jim Crow,") 

123, 178; sketch of, iy let sea. 
Rice, Mrs. Thomas D. (Miss 

Gladstane), 173. 
Rich, John, 11. 

" Richard Coeur de Lion," 87. 
" Richard III." 22, 145, 1 54, 197. 
Richards, Mr. (Sir Richard 

Crosby), 61. 
Richardson, Augustus, 132. 
Richardson, Mrs. See Eliza- 
beth Jefferson. 
Richings, Peter, 131, 158. 
Richmond Hill Theatre, New 

York, 1S7 note. 
Richmond Theatre, England, 

10, 30, 41, 67. 
Ringgold, Major Samuel, 177. 
Ripon, Eng., 3, 5 note, 6, 9, 30, 

34- 45- 
" Rip Van Winkle," Bernard's, 

33 note - 



" Rip Van Winkle," 

Charles Burke's, 157, 159. 
Boucicault's, 196, 197. 
Jefferson in the part, pref- 
ace, 201 et sea. 
origin of the play, 186 etsea. 

Ristori, Adelaide, preface. 

" Rival Queens," 22. 

" Rivals," 56 note, 90, 92, 194, 
196, 197, 209 et sea., 218 note. 

" Rival Soldiers," 92. 

Roach, Mrs., 23. 

" Road to Ruin," 80, 198. 

" Robbery," 85. 

" Robert Macaire," 141, 198. 

Robertson, Thomas, 191, 200. 

Robertson, W., 140. 

Robinson, Frederick, 213, 217, 
218 note. 

Robinson, Henry C, 17. 

Rogers, judge, 107. 

" Roland for an Oliver," 70, 
89, 199. 

" Roman Father," 22. 

" Romeo and Juliet," 16, 89,197. 

Romer, Mrs., 75. 

Ronaldson's Cemetery, Phila- 
delphia, 156, 170. 

Rose, Rev. John, 81, 83. 

" Rosina, or the Reapers," 79, 
168. 

" Rough Sergeant," 17. 

Rowe, George F, 185. 

Rowe, Nicholas, 19, 21. 

Rowson, Susanna, 85. 

" Royal Slave," 18. 

Russell, Richard, 97, 132. 

Russell, Airs. Richard, 97. 

Ryan, Redmond, 177. 

Ryder, Mr., 23. 
! Ryley, Samuel William, pref- 
ace, 37 note. 

Sadlers Wells Theatre, 74. 

Salvini, To??imaso, preface. 
! San Francisco, Cal., 184. 
j Saratoga, N. Y., 86. 



246 



INDEX. 



Sarony, A 7 "., preface. 
Saunders, Mrs. See Elizabeth 

Anderson. 
Savannah, Geo., 179. 
Schiller, 86, 87. 
Scholes, Mr., 98. 
" School for Arrogance," 82. 
" School for Grown Children," 

100. 
" School for Prejudice," 88. 
"School for Scandal," 17, 37, 

69,87,104, 122, 145, 199,212. 
" School for Soldiers," 85. 
Scott, John K., 178. 
Scott, Sir Walter, 41. 
" Scrap of Paper," 196. 
"Secret Service," 135. 
" Secrets Worth Knowing," 82. 
Sedley, William H. S. (W. H. 

Smith), 226. 
Seebach, Marie, preface. 
Sefton, John, 141, 142, 155. 
Sefton, Mrs. See Mrs. Watts. 
Sefton, William, 174. 
" Self-immolation," 85. 
Sehvyn, George, 47. 
" Sentinel," 145. 
Setchell, Daniel E., 220, 225. 
Sevier, J. G., 74 note. 
Seymour, Mrs. (Mrs. Bloxton), 

57, 58. 
Shadivell, Charles, 19. 
Shahesfieare, 16, 20-22, 29, 60, 

80-85, 88 > 8 9> 9 2 > I2 4 note > 

125, 127, 145, 163, 186, 196- 

198, 203. 
" Shamrock," 185 note. 
Shaw, Mrs., 66. 
Sheffield, Eng., 72. 
Shelley, Percy Bysshe, 41. 
Sheridan, Richard B ., 1 1 

14, 16, 40, 48 note, 57, 81. 

88, 90, 212, 215. 

Sheridan, 'Jliomas, 1 1, 23, 43 

note. 
"She Stoops to Conquer," 27, 

86, 198. 



81,8 



K 



" She Would and She Would 

Not," 68, 89. 
" Shipwreck," 90. 
Shirley, James, 16, 21. 
Shrewsbury, Eng., 21. 
Shuter, Edward, 27, 39. 
Siddons, Mrs., 16, 18, 48 64, 

225. 
" Siege of Belgrade," 81. 
Simpson, Alexander, 140. 
Simpson, Edmund, 134. 
Sinclair, John, 133. 
Singleton, Mr., 77. 
" Slander," 157. 
" Slasher and Crasher," 199. 
Sloman, Joint, 100, 1 18, 119. 
Sloman, Mrs. John, 118. 
Smith, Alexander, 208. 
Stnith, James, of Melbourne, 

his reflections on the Char- 
acter of Jefferson 1st, 46, 

mention, 185. 
Smith, Mark, 226. 
Smith, 0., 188. 
Smith, Sol. (Elder), preface, 

70,85, 154. 
Smith, William Henry. See 

W. H. S. Sedley. 
Smock Alley Theatre, 11. 
Smollett, Tobias, 15, yj note. 
Snoioden, Mrs., 66. 
"Soldier's Daughter," 89, 140. 
Solomon, Mrs., 66. 
" Somebody Else," 200. 
Somcrville, Mr., 140. 
Sothcrn, E. A., 180, l8l, 1 84, 

191, 226. 
Sothern, Mrs. E. A., 181. 
Sou the) nc, Thomas, 1 5. 
Soivden, Mr., 12, 23. 
11 Spanish Barber," 80, 1 29 note, 

130. 
" Spanish Castle," 84. 
Spanish Theatre, Mexico, 177. 
Sparks, J .ukc, 23. 
"Spectre lhidegroom," 154, 

157. I95» 197. 



INDEX. 



247 



"Speculation," 81. 

" Speed the Plough," 83, 169. 

Spiller, Mrs., 140. 

" Spitfire," 197. 

" Spoiled Child," 79, 169. 

" Sprigs of Laurel," 92. 

St. Charles Theatre, N. O., 9, 

112, 134, 146. 
St. Clair, General, 107 note. 
St. James Church,Piccadilly,i7. 
St. John's, N. F., 113. 
St. Louis, Mo., 96. 
St. Margaret's Church, West- 
minster, 46 note. 
St. Paul's Church, N. Y., 56. 
Steele, Sir Richard, 25, 225. 
Stephens, A dine, 214. 
Stephens, Mrs. (Elizabeth Taft), 

179, 180. 
Sterne, Laurence, 225. 
" Sterne's Maria," 58, 82. 
Stevens, Sara, 180, 182. 
" Steward," 62, 79. 
Stewart, Mrs. Alexander (Mary 

Vosj, 147. 
Stoddart, J. H., 180, 183, 184. 
Stoddart, Mrs. J. H. (Mrs. 

Conover), 179. 
Stone, John A., 140. 
Storace, Stephen, 81, 198. 
Storer, Ann (Mrs. Hogg), 61. 
" Stranger," 23, 57, 58, 77, 82, 

197. 
" Stranger's Birthday," 84. 
Stratford-on-Avon, 196. 
Sttcart, William, 182. 
Suett, Richard, 55, 226. 

Sketch of, 124 note. 
" Surrender of Calais," 53, 79. 
Surrey Theatre, Eng., 75. 
" Suspicious Husband," 82. 
Sutherland, lone. See lone 

Burke. 
Sutherland, Mrs. See Mrs. 

Charles Burke. 
" Sweethearts and Wives," 145. 
Symons, Dan, 185. 



Taft, Elizabeth (Mrs. Ste- 
phens), 179, 180. 
" Tale of Mystery," 61, 88. 
"Tamanthes," 21. 
"Taming of the Shrew," 16, 

157- 
" Tancred and Sigismunda," 22. 
"Tartuffe," 15. 
Taylor, Bayard, 186. 
Taylor, Gen. Zachary, 177. 
Taylor, H. F., 214, 218 note. 
Taylor, John, preface, 17, 27, 

29, 46 note, 163. 
Taylor, Mary, 158. 
Taylor, Thomas, 20, 181, 198-200. 
Telbin, Wm., 191. 
Telbin , Miss. SeeMrs.Gurner. 
" Telegraph," 82. 
"Tekeli," 87, 149 note. 
"Tell Truth and Shame the 

Devil," 81. 
" Tempest," 53 note, 85, 125. 
Temple, London, 93. 
Terry, Daniel, 91. 
Thackeray, William M.,i$,22$. 
Thayer, Edward, 142. 
Theatres : 

Adelphi, London, 188, 189, 
197. 

Arch Street, Phila., 125, 
188, 194, 196, 199. 

Astor Place Opera House, 
N. Y., 8 note. 

Baltimore Museum, 179. 

Bath, 59. 

Beverly, 30 

Booth's, N. Y., 192, 193. 

Boston (Federal Street), 

53 note- 
Boston Museum, 125. 

Bowery, N. Y., 31, 52, 96, 

I2 5> : 39> 155. T 5 8 > 187 

note, 194. 
Broadway, N. Y., 155 note. 
Brooklyn Museum, 162. 
Brougham's Lyceum, N. 

Y, 179. 



248 



INDEX. 



Theatres : 

Burton's, N. Y., 154. 
Chatham Garden, N. Y., 

64, 73, 140, 146. 
Chestnut Street, Phila., j 

preface, 13, 33 note, 56 ; 

note, 61, 63-65, 68-71, 

76,77. 89, 9 1 . 95. 9 6 . 99. 
roi, 108, 118, 120, 122, 
124 note, 129, 131, 139, 
148, 153, 155. 

Commonwealth, N. Y., 39 
note. 

Covent Garden, London, 
3 note, 7, 8 note, 11, 15, 
18, 20, 22, 32 note, 33, 
45 note, 46 note, 59, 62 
note, 64, 73, 79-92, 116 
note, 125, 143 note, 158, 
197-199. 

Crow Street, Dublin, 12, 

43- 

Dorset Gardens, 125. 

Drury Lane, London, 7, 8 
note, 10, 11-12, 14-16, 
18-25, 27, 28, 34, 39. 41 
note, 46, 48 note, 55, 57, 

73> 74. 79» 8 <>- 82 > 8 4- 
90, 92, 101, 1 24 note, 1 57, 
198. 

Eagle, Buffalo, 125. 

Exeter, 10, 12, 29, 32,42, 74. 

Federal Street, Boston, 53 
note. 

Fifth Avenue, N. Y., 194. 

Ford's, Bal timore,- 1 93, 2 1 4. 

Fourteenth St., N. Y., 160. 

Franklin, N. Y., 95, 141, 
174. 

Globe, Boston, 90. 

Goodman's Fields, Lon- 
don, 11, 48 note. 

Grand Opera House, N. 
Y., 194. 

Harrowgate, 30. 

Haymarket, London, 10, 
17, 19, 41 note, 71,79-83, 



Theatres : 

85, 86, 89, 90, 96, 125, 

129 note, 191, 193, 198, 

199, 214. 
Holiiday Street, Baltimore, 

179. 
Howard Athenaeum, Bos- 
ton, 56 note, 125. 
John Street, N. Y., 52, 53, 

55, 59, 62, 80, 81, 83, 

114. 
Laura Keene's, N. Y., 169, 

180, 182-184, 200, 208, 

211. 
Laura Keene's Varieties, 

N. Y., 182. 
Lincoln's Inn Fields, 16, 

21. 
Lyrique, Paris, 93. 
Maguire's Opera House, 

San Francisco, 184. 
McVicker's, Chicago, 191, 

195- 

Metropolitan, N. Y., 182. 
Mobile, 133, 146, 147, 156. 
Mount Vernon Gardens, 

61. 
National, N. Y., 154, 169, 

175. I77-I79* 195. 20 °- 

New National, N. Y. 
(Chatham), 154. 

New, N. Y. (Park), 55. 

Niblo's, N. Y., 141, 179. 

Olympic, N. Y. (Mitch- 
ell's), 179. 

Olympic, N. Y. (Laura 
Keene's Theatre), 169, 
180, 190, 191, 200. 

Park, N. Y., 8 note, 13, 31, 
33 note, 48 note, 55, 57, 
58, 61, 63, 64, 82, 86, 88, 
95>96, i3 " I 34. HO, I5 8 » 
167, 171, 186, 187 note. 

Phoenix, Dublin, 87. 

Plymouth, Eng., preface, 
8 note, 10, 12, 19, 27, 31- 
3 6 » 45. 47. 5 1 - 



INDEX. 



249 



Theatres : 

Princess's, London, 3 note, 

93, 193- 
Richmond, Eng., 10, 30, 41, 

67. 
Richmond Hill, N. Y., 187 

note. 
Royal, Dublin, 42, 43 note. 
Royal, London, 16, 18, 

20-22. 
Sadlers Wells, London, 74. 
Smock Alley, London, 11. 
Spanish, Metamoras, Mex- 
ico, 177. 
St. Charles, N. O., 9, 112, 

134, 146. 
Surrey, London, 75. 
Thespian Hotel, Albany, 

64. 
Tripler Hall, N. Y., 182. 
Troy Museum, 194. 
Union Square, N. Y., 218 

note. 
Varieties, N. O., 191. 
W attack's, N. Y., 99, 191, 

196. 
Walnut Street, Phila., 95, 

121, 122, 187 note. 
Washington, 149 note, 171, 

!73- 
Winter Garden, N. Y., 
182-184, 197, 200. 
Theatre Lyrique, Paris, 93. 
Theatre Royal, Dublin, 42, 43 

note. 
Theatre Royal, London, 16, 18, 

20-22. 
Theatrical Fund, London, 45 

note. 
Thespian Hotel, Albany, 64. 
Thillon, Anna, 179. 
Thoman, Jacob, 95, 142. 
T/w?nan, Mrs. See Elizabeth 

Anderson. 
Thomas, Mons., 165-167, 170. 
Thompson, Capt. Edward, 19. 
Thompson, Charlotte, 180. 



Thomson, James, 22, 39 note. 

Thorne, James, 147. 

" Three and the Deuce," 86. 

" Three Weeks after Mar- 
riage," 90, 104. 

" Ticket-of-Leave Man," 185, 
198. 

Tilden, Miss (Mrs. Chas. Ber- 
nard), 98. 

Tilghman, Judge, 107 note. 

Tilt Yard Coffee House, 9, 10. 

Timm, Mrs. H. C, 195. 

Titus, Master, 174. 

Tobin, John, 89. 

" Tom Noddy's Secret," 135, 
145. 

"Tom Thumb," 141, 145. 

"Toothache," 94. 

Torquay, 8 note. 

Torr Abbey, yj. 

Tostee, Mile., 161. 

Tower of London, 10. 

" Town and Country," 90. 

"Toy," 87. 

" Tragedy a-la-Mode," 42. 

Tripler Hall, N. Y., 182. 

Troy Museum, 194. 

Tumbull, The Misses, 132. 

Turner, Cyril, 200. 

" Turnpike Gate," 8 note. 

Twaits, Win., 65. 
Sketch of, 66, 67. 

Twaits, Mrs. Win. (Eliza 
Westray, Mrs. Villiers), 67. 

"Twelfth Night," 21. 

"Twin Rivals," 16. 

"Two Misers," 81. 

" Tycoon," 183, 200. 

Tyler, Joseph, 53. 

Tyler, Mrs. Joseph, 53, 58, 
61. 



" Unequal Match," 200. 
Union Square Theatre, N. Y., 

218 note. 
Usher, Luke, 66. 



250 



INDEX. 



" Valentine and Orson," 97. 
Vanbrngh, Sir John, 21. 
Varieties Theatre, N. O., 191. 
Varney Mr., 24. 
Varrey, Edwin, 181. 
"Venice Preserved," 145. 
Vernon, Mr., 12. 
" Victims," 199. 
"Village Lawyer," 87, 199. 
Villiers, Mrs. (Eliza Westray). 

See Mrs. Win. Twaits. 
Vincent, Mrs. H, 184. 
"Virginia Mummy," 173. 
Virginia Water, Windsor, 4, 

3°- 
" Virgin of the Sun," 84. 
Voltaire, 34. 
" Votary of Wealth," 88. 



Walcot, Charles, 180. 
" Walder, the Avenger," 31. 
Walker, Thos., 12, 23. 
Wallack, Henry, 70, 72, 140. 
Wallack, Mrs. Henry, 70, 140. 
Wallack, Jas. W. (Elder), 73, 

132. 
Wallack, J. W. (Younger), 142, 

183. 
Wallack, Lester, 179, 191, 225. 
Wallack's Theatre, 99, 191, 

196. 
Walnut Street Theatre, Phila., 

95, 121, 122, T87 note. 
Walpole, Horace, 47. 
Walstein, Mrs., 140. 
Walton, Izaak, 102 note. 
"Wandering Boys," 145. 
" Wandering Jew," 85. 
Waring, Mrs. See Caroline 

Placide. 
Warren, Mr., 66. 
Warren, Anne (Mrs. Danford 

Marble), 56 note. 
Warren^ Emma (Mrs. Price, 

Mrs. Hanchett), 56 note. 
Warren, Henry, 196. 



Warren, Hester (Mrs. Willis, 
Mrs. Proctor), 56 note, 129, 
130, 184. 

Warren, Mary Ann (Mrs. John 
B. Rice), 56 note. 

Warren, Mrs. (Miss Brunton, 
Mrs. Merry, Mrs. Wignell), 
63-66, 68. 

Warren, Sarah (Mrs. Joseph 
Jefferson 4th), 196. 

Warren, Wm. (Elder), sketch 
of, 56 note ; mention, 65, 
66, 68-72, 77, 97, 99, 100, 
102 note, 103, 104, 108, 118 
note, 119, 120, 124 note, 129, 
226. 

Warren, Mrs. Wm. (Esther 
Fortune), 56. 

Warren, Wm. (Younger), 
sketch, 56 note; mention, 
dedication, 124, 125, 155, 

173. 193. J 96- 
Washington City, D. C, 59, 

68 note, 95, 102, 104, 121, 

122, 134, 140, 143. 
Washington, George, 40, 113, 

124 note, 195 note. 
Washington Theatre, 149 note, 

171, 173- 
" Waterman," 199. 
Watkins, Harry, 178. 
Watts, Mrs. (Mrs. John Sef- 

ton), 141. 
Waverley, Charles, 214, 218 

note. 
" Way of the World," 16, 28. 
" Way to Get Married," 82. 
" Way to Keep Him," 20, 

101. 
" Weathercock," 90. 
Webb y Mrs. See Mrs. Wil- 

mot. 
Webb, Benjamin (The Enigma 

Writer), 93. 
Webster^ Benjamin, 226. 
Wells, Mary, 1 80, 1 8 2. 
" Welsh Girl," 91, 141. 



— 






INDEX. 



251 



We?nyss, F. C, preface, 8 note, 

30, 67, 68, 70, 77, 100, 106, 

118-121, 124 note, 129, 130, 

172. 
West, J, 98. 

West, Mr. (vocalist), 36. 
" West Indian," 8 note, 57, 59, 

81. 
Westminster Abbey, 40, 46 

note. 
Westminster Hall, 40. 
Western, Tom, 15, 39, 41, 90. 
Westray, Eliza (Mrs. William 

Twaits, Mrs. Villiers), 67. 
Westray, Ellen. See Mrs. 

John Darley. 
Westray, Juliana. See Mrs. 

William Wood. 
Wkeatleigk, Charles, 179, 180. 
Wheatley , Frederick, 77, 99. 
Wheatley, William, 131. 
Wheatley, Mrs. William, 132. 
" Wheel of Fortune," 55, 79. 
" Wheel of Truth," 88. 
" Where is He ? " 87. 
"Which is the Man? "88. 
" Whims of Galatea," 80. 
Whitehead, William, 22. 
White Hart Inn, 5. 
" White Lies," 200. 
"Widow's Victim," 13 c, iqc. 

Wife, 134, 135. 
Wignell, Thomas, 32 note, 65, 

68, 91, 99. 
Wignell, Mrs. (Anne Brunton, 

Mrs. Merry), 63-66, 68. 
Wilkinson, Tate, preface, 8 

note, 27, 29, 42, 43, 48 note, 

226. 
Wilks, Robert, 223, 224. 
" Will, The," 82. 
William IV. of England, 41 

note. 
" William Tell," 80, 134. 
Williams, Barney, 178. 
Willia?ns, Mrs. Barney, 178. 
Williams, Mr. (manager), 25. 



Williams, P., 142. N 

Williamson, Mr. (vocalist), 140. 
Willis, Mrs. (Mrs. Proctor). 

See Hester Warren. 
Willis, N. P., 78. 
" Willow Copse," 180. 
Wilmington, Del., 179. 
Wilmot, Mr., 1 24. 
Wilmot, Mrs. (Mrs. Webb, 

Mrs. Marshall), 80; sketch 

of, 124 note. 
Windsor, Eng., 4, 30. 
Winston, James, preface, 34. 
Winter Garden Theatre, New 

York, 182-184, 199, 200. 
" Winter's Tale," 16. 
" Wise Man of the East," 87. 
Woffington, Peg, 10, 39. 
Wolfe, Gen., 40. 
Wolfe, Mr. (of Pynn), 32-34, 

3 6 > 39- 5 1 - 

"Woman's Wits," 157. 

" Wonder, The," 18. 

Wood, Mr. (artist), 149 note. 

Wood, Miss. See Mrs. Thom- 
as Jefferson 1st. 

Wood, Mrs. John, 183, 184. 

Wood, Rose, 218 note. 

Wood, William B., preface, 34, 
65-67, 68-71, 76, 77, 95, 100, 
101, 102 note, 103, "108, 117, 
129, 168, 189, 195 note. 

Wood, Mrs. William B. (Juli- 
ana Westray), 66, 70, 77, 
104, 117. 

" Woodcock's Little Game," 
200. 

" Woodman's Hut," 134 note. 

Woodxaard, Henry, 12, 23, 24, 
39, 226. 

Wordsworth, William, 41, 137, 
164. 

Wright, Edward 226. 

Wright, James Sturtois, 96, 147. 

Wright, Mrs. J. S. See Mary 
Anne Jefferson. 

Wycherley, William, 225. 



IXDEX. 



Yates, Frederick Henry, 

187, 188 note. 
Yates, Richard, 24, 39. 
York, England, 29 note. 
Young, Dr. Edward, 20, 22. 
" Young Quaker," 79. 
u Young Widow," 157. 



" Zara," 34. 
" Zembuco," 69, 125. 
" Zenobia," 15. 
" Zingis," 15. 
" Zorinski," 81. 

Zsokke (or Zschokke), John 
Henry Daniel, 84. 



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(chiefly by the eminent artist-antiquary, F. W. Fairholt, F.S.A.) 
and a plate of Alphabets. $12.00. 

NORTON'S (C. B.) American Inventions and Improve- 
ments in Breech-Loading Small Arms, Heavy Ordnance, Machine 
Guns, Magazine Anns, Fixed Ammunition, 1'istols, Projectiles, Ex- 
plosives, and other Munitions of War, including a chapter on Lite- 
Saving Projectiles and Sporting Arms. Second edition, revised and 
corrected. 1 vol. Quarto. 408 pages. Illustrated with 75 engrav- 
ings on wood, steel plates, lithographs, and plates in color. $10.00. 

PALMEIVS (Mrs. Henrietta Lee) Home-Life in the 

Bible. Edited by John W. Palmer. With 220 Illustrations. Full 
octavo. $5.00. By subscription only. 



A List of Books Published by 



PERCYS (Townsend) A Dictionary of the Stage. 1 vol. 

12mo. $2.00. 

PLYMPTON'S (Miss A. G.) The Glad Year Round. A 

new juvenile, of the style which Walter Crane and Kate Greenaway 
have made so popular; beautifully printed in colors throughout, 
with original and entertaining poetry. Square octavo, with illumi- 
nated covers. $2.50. 

POETS AND ETCHERS. A sumptuous volume of 

twenty full-page etchings, by James D. Smillie, Samuel Colman, 
A. F. Bellows, H. Farrer, R. Swain Gifford, illustrating poems by 
Longfellow, Whittier, Bryant, Aldrich, etc. Quarto. Elegantly 
bound. $10.00. Also limited editions on China and Japan paper. 

WHITMAN' S (Walt) Leaves of Grass. Containing 

the matter comprised in bis former volumes, with his latest poems. 
With portrait. 1 vol. 12mo. $2.50. 

WILLIAMS'S (Alfred M.) The Poets and Poetry of 

Ireland. With Historical and Critical Essays and Notes. An 
exhaustive compilation of the best verses of the Irish poets from the 
earliest times to the present. 1 vol. 12mo. $2.00. 

WINTER'S (William) The Jeffersons. Vol. II. of the 

Amez-ican-Actor Series. 1 vol. 12mo. $1.25. 



To be Published in November. 

BACON'S (Henry) Parisian Art and Artists. Copiously 

illustrated. 1 vol. Square 8vo. $3.00.- 

CLARKE'S (Mrs. Asia Booth) The Elder and the 

Younger Booth. Vol. in. of the " American-Actor Series." Illus- 
trated. 1 vol. 12mo. $1.25. 

CLEMENT'S (Clara Ersklne) Eleanor Maitland. A 

Novel. 1 vol. 16mo. $1.25. 

GONSE'S (Louis) Eugene Fromentin, Painter and Writer : 

translated from the French. Copiously illustrated. 1 vol. Square 
8vo. $3.00. u 

HO WELLS'S (William D.) Dr. Breen's Practice. 1 vol. 

12mo. $1.50. 

NORTON'S (C. B.) Heavy Ordnance, Siege and Xaval 

Guns, Light Artillery, Machine Guns, Life-Saving Ordnance and 
Projectiles, as manufactured by the South Boston Iron Company, 
lvol. Quarto. 



James R. Osgood & Co. 



SHALER'S (Professor N. S.) and DA VIS'S (William 

M.) Illustrations of the Earth's Surface. Volume II. Quarto, with 
many Heliotypes. $10.00. 

WALKER'S (Rev. J. B. R.) A New and Enlarged Con- 
cordance to the Holy Scriptures. The most perfect Concordance of 
the Bible in the English language. It contains over forty thousand, or 
one-fifth, more references and quotations, than Cruden's Unabridged, 
which has been the standard for a century. It coutains three tunes 
as many names of persons and places as Cruden's, each one accentu- 
ated, so as to show its exact pronunciation, and having also copious 
and exhaustive references and quotations. 1 vol. 8vo. 

WARE'S (Professor William R.) Modern Perspective. 

For Architects, Artists, and Draughtsmen. 1 vol. 12mo. With 
Atlas of Plates in oblong folio. 

WHEELER'S (William A.) Familiar Allusions. A 

Handbook of Miscellaneous Information, including the names of 
celebrated statues, paintings, palaces, country-seats, ruins, churches, 
ships, streets, clubs, natural curiosities, etc. Completed and edited 
by Charles G-. Wheeler. 1 vol. 12mo. $2.50. 



To be Published in December. 

BARTLETTS (T. H.) The Life of the Late Dr. William 

Rimmer. With illustrations from his Paintings, Drawings, and 
Sculpture. 1vol. Quarto. Full gilt. $10.00. 

CLEMENT'S (Mrs. Clara Erskine) Charlotte Cushman. 

Vol. IV. of the American-Actor Series. Illustrated. 1 vol. 12mo. 
$1.25. 

TWAIN'S (Mark) new book. With 200 Illustrations by 

the best artists. Elegantly bound. 1 vol. Square 8vo. Sold by 
subscription only. 

STILLMANN'S (J. D. B., A.M., M.D.) The Horse in 

Motion, as shown in a series of views by instantaneous photography, 
with a study on animal mechanics, founded on the revelations of the 
camera, in which the theory of quadrupedal locomotion is demon- 
strated. With anatomical illustrations in cliromo, alter drawings by 
William Hahn. With a preface by Leland Stanford, lvol. ltoyal 
quarto. Fully illustrated. $10.00. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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